Coverlets

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Textiles that adorn beds, adding an ornamental layer while usually offering slight warmth
2. Fabric coverings placed over beds to provide decoration and some warmth
3. Light quilts or spreads for beds that enhance the appearance of a bedroom

Etymology: "Coverlets" is the plural of "coverlet," a bed covering that sits on top of the blankets. The singular comes from Middle English "coverlite," borrowed from Anglo-Norman "cuver-lit," which joined "cuvrir" ("to cover") with "lit" ("bed"). So the word's literal meaning is simply "cover-bed," a name that describes exactly what the object does. The second half of that compound has a French pedigree, since "lit" is the same word that gives modern French its everyday term for bed. English speakers in the Middle Ages were therefore naming a bedspread with a phrase that, to a French ear, was ordinary domestic vocabulary. The word has a Catalan relative, "cobrellit," built on the same pattern, which shows how readily this kind of bed-covering name spread across the Romance-speaking world.