Counterpane

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A bed covering that serves both decorative and functional purposes by providing warmth and a finished look for the bed setup
2. An aesthetic and often quilted layer that drapes over bedding to enhance its visual appeal while offering added warmth
3. A decorative cover that lies over the top of bedding to add warmth and style

Etymology: The word "counterpane" looks like it should mean something to do with being "against" a pane of glass, but it has nothing to do with windows. Its ancestor was the Latin phrase "culcita puncta," meaning "stitched bedding," where "culcita" was a mattress or cushion and "puncta" referred to the stitching that held its padding in place. That quilted quality is the thread running through the whole history. Over the centuries the phrase was reshaped as it passed through Old French and Middle French, and each change eroded its original form. Over time the pieces were blurred together into a single word, and English speakers in the Middle English period came to know the result as "counterpane." The word's meaning stayed attached to the bed rather than to any sense of opposition. Sources cannot confirm the exact sequence of each sound change, so the precise step-by-step path from "culcita puncta" to "counterpane" remains partly uncertain.

Synonyms: bedspread, coverlet, quilt, spread, blanket