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An ottoman is a piece of furniture, a padded, upholstered seat or bench having neither back nor arms, often used as a stool or footrest.
An ottoman can also be known as a footstool, hassock or pouf (*). In the United Kingdom, ottomans are usually hollow and can be used as blanket boxes.
Word history
It is so called not because of its supposed invention by the Ottoman Turks (compare divan (furniture)) but simply because when the term was introduced (in English in this sense since 1806; probably form the identical French word, which also denotes a type of textile fabric) its typical use in a reclining position was associated in Europe with the (then still largely Turkish-controlled) Orient, in line with the fashionably Turkish influence since the early 18th century.
References in popular culture
In the opening title sequence of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dick Van Dyke trips over an ottoman. A second version of the opening depicts him missing the ottoman, not resulting in a trip.
Sources and references
(incomplete)
- Encyclopedia of Furniture by Joseph Aronson
- EtymologyOnLine
"Ottoman (furniture)"