Hassocks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of cushioned or padded stool often used for resting one's feet or as an informal seat
2. Small, soft seat or footrest commonly found in living rooms or churches
3. Furnished with padding, these low seats serve both functional and decorative purposes in various settings

Etymology: Hassocks began as coarse grass. The Old English "hassoc" meant a rough kind of tuft or sedge, and the cushion we now know took its name from the plant. Its origin is uncertain, but one proposal links it to an Old English word "hās", meaning hoarse, coarse or rough, with the diminutive suffix "-oc" attached, which would make the grass a "little rough thing." "Hassocks" is simply the plural of "hassock," so the word's history follows that of the singular. The shift from grass to furnishing presumably came from bundles of rough grass or rushes being bound together and used for kneeling or sitting, a practical object that later became a padded cushion in churches and homes.

Synonyms: stools, benches, cushions, pads, footstools