ottoman

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a low upholstered seat without a back or arms, often used as a footrest and sometimes containing storage

   She rested her feet on the ottoman beside the fire.

2. 2
   noun

   historical: a broad upholstered backless sofa or bench

   Guests sat around the broad ottoman in the center of the drawing room.

3. 3
   adj

   usually capitalized: relating to the Ottoman dynasty, empire, people, or culture

   The museum's Ottoman gallery displays manuscripts, ceramics, and textiles.

The dynastic name came through French and Italian from Ottoman Turkish Osman, the name of Osman I, founder of the empire; Osman is the Turkish form of Arabic Uthman. The furniture sense entered through French ottomane for a Turkish-style upholstered seat, then narrowed to modern low seats and footstools.

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