English Explanatory Dictionary

sofa

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A raised area of a building's floor, usually covered with carpeting, used for sitting.
  2. An upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, long enough to comfortably accommodate two or more people.
verb
  1. To furnish with one or more sofas.
  2. To seat or lay down on a sofa.
noun
  1. A slave soldier who served in the army of the Mali Empire.
name
  1. Acronym of Standards of Fundamental Astronomy.
  2. Acronym of Simulation Open Framework Architecture.
noun
  1. Acronym of status of forces agreement, an agreement that allows long-term garrisoning of foreign troops in the host country.

Pronunciation

/ˈsəʊ̯fə/ /ˈsɵʊ̯fə/ /ˈsoʊ̯fə/ /ˈsɔʊ̯fə/ en-us-sofa.ogg

Word forms

sofa sofas sopha sofaing sofaed

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

couch lounge divan settee

Related words

love seat

Derived words

cornucopia sofa moving sofa problem sofa-bed sofa-bedstead sofa constant sofaful sofa king sofaless sofalike sofa painting sofa problem sofa set sofa sleeper sofa-sleeper sofa spud sofa surf sofa surfer sofa surfing sofa table
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on S Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary