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Added 9 October 2026

sofa

/ˈsəʊ̯fə/ noun

In Latin: cubīle, lectus, sponda Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sofa at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A raised area of a building's floor, usually covered with carpeting, used for sitting.
An upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, long enough to comfortably accommodate two or more people.
He bought a big sofa two days before his relatives arrived.

verb

To furnish with one or more sofas.
To seat or lay down on a sofa.

noun

A slave soldier who served in the army of the Mali Empire.

Origin

Borrowed from French sofa, ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick, covered with rich carpets and cushions and used for sitting”). Cognate with Aramaic צפא/Classical Syriac ܨܦܬܐ (ṣipā’, ṣeppəṯā, “mat, matting”). The word may have entered European languages via Muslim Iberia or through Turkish.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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