Bedstee

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A bedstead or a built-in bed set into a recess in a wall, once common in old Scottish and northern English homes
2. An old-fashioned bed frame, or a sleeping place built into an alcove in the wall of a room
3. A bed or bedstead, particularly one enclosed in a wall recess, as found in traditional rural cottages

Etymology: A bedstee is a bed built into a recess or alcove in a wall, often closed off by doors or curtains, a common arrangement in old Scottish, Scandinavian and Dutch farmhouses where space was scarce. Its name is literally "bed place." The second half, "stee," is a variant of "stead," meaning "place," the same word that survives in "instead," meaning "in the place of," and "homestead." The term is a near-twin of "bedstead," which is built from the same two parts, "bed" and "stead." Both descend from Old English, and the frame that holds a mattress came to bear the name. "Bedstee" preserves the older spelling and sound, reflecting its Scots and northern English usage and the Low German and Dutch "stede" that the same root took in those languages, rather than the standard English form. Its exact first recorded date is uncertain.

Synonyms: alcove, recess, bed-niche