Hassock

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈhasək/

Definitions

1. A piece of furniture that is thick and padded, typically used for resting feet or as a low seat
2. A soft, cushioned item intended to provide support for feet or serve as a compact seating option
3. A low, soft cushion designed to support feet or to be sat upon comfortably

Etymology: Long before it padded a kneeler, "hassock" meant a clump of coarse grass. The Old English "hassoc" named the rough tussocks that grew in wet ground, and the word's origin is uncertain. One possibility is that it combines "hās," meaning hoarse or coarse, with a diminutive ending "-oc," so the word would mean something like "little rough thing." The shift from grass to cushion seems to have happened because a tussock was a natural place to sit or kneel in marshy country, and people came to use bundles of grass, and later stuffed cloth or rush-filled pads, in the same way. The sense of a soft cushion for kneeling or resting the feet came to dominate, while the older meaning of a tuft of grass faded from everyday use.

Synonyms: ottoman, pouffe, cushion, seat, stool