Couch

For other uses, see Couch (disambiguation).

Comfortable seating Portuguese rosewood caned settee (canape), 19th century (Camilo Castelo Branco House, Famalicão) Chaise longue, 1996 by Vico Magistretti.

A couch, also called a sofa, is an item of furniture designed to seat more than one person, and providing support for the back and arms. Typically, it will have an armrest on either side. In homes couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den or the lounge. They consist of a wooden or metal structure supplemented by padding and are covered in a variety of textiles, leather, or sometimes a combination of both. They will also be found in hotels and parts of commercial offices, waiting rooms, furniture stores, etc.

The term 'couch' is used in North America, Australia (most commonly known as a lounge) and New Zealand. Other terms synonymous with the above definition of couch are sofa (derived from the Arabic word suffah), settee, chesterfield, divan, and canapé.

Types

The most common types of couches are the "loveseat",^{[citation needed]} or British two-seater, and the settee or sofa, with two or more seats.^[1] A sectional sofa, often just referred to as a "sectional", is formed from multiple sections (typically two to four) and usually includes at least two pieces that join at an angle of 90 degrees or slightly greater, used to wrap around walls or other furniture. A sectional sofa is known as a corner sofa in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

Other couch variants include the divan, the fainting couch (backless or partial-backed), the chaise longue (long with one armrest), the canapé (an ornamental 3-seater), and the ottoman (generally considered a type of footstool). To conserve space, some sofas double as beds in the form of sofa-beds, daybeds, or futons. There are also couches known by genericized trademarked names, such as a davenport or Chesterfield (named for one of the Earls of Chesterfield).^{[citation needed]}

In the United Kingdom a Chesterfield is a deep buttoned sofa, with arms and back of the same height. It is usually made from leather and the term Chesterfield in British English is only applied to this type of sofa.

The term "chesterfield" is a Canadian term equivalent to couch or sofa. The use of the term has been found to be widespread among older Canadians. This term is quickly vanishing from Canadian English according to one survey done in the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario in 1992.^[2] Northern California is the only place besides Canada where "chesterfield" is a synonym for couch or sofa;^[3] again, this probably applies nowadays to older Northern Californians. In the United Kingdom, the word refers to a particular style of sofa featuring a low rolled back and deep buttoning.

The term "three-piece suite" is used to describe a furniture set consisting of a two or three-seater couch and two armchairs. Other less specific terms for sets with at least one sofa include "chesterfield suite", "lounge suite", "living-room suite" and "sofa suite".^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

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  A red two-seater upholstered couch

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  Traditional gray couch

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  A pale taupe couch in a Couch shop

See also

• Bench (furniture)
• Couch potato
• List of chairs for an extended list of various chair types and makes
• The joiner's settle
• Window seat

Notes

1. ^ "Interview with Immodesty Blaize". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guM3wHItckE&NR=1. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 
2. ^ Chambers, J. K. "The Canada-U.S. border as a vanishing isogloss: the evidence of chesterfield." Journal of English Linguistics; 23 (1995): 156–66, excerpt at chass.utoronto.ca
3. ^ Fadiman, Clifton Any Number Can Play 1957

References

• John Gloag, A Short Dictionary of Furniture rev. ed. 1962. (London: Allen & Unwin)

External links

• Etymology of "sofa"
• British chesterfield sofa types