mattress

English

Mattress

Etymology

From Middle English materas, from Old French, from Arabic مَطْرَح‎ (maṭraḥ, “place where something is thrown”), from طَرَحَ‎ (ṭaraḥa, “to throw”). Compare divan, from Persian via Turkish (both of Middle Eastern origin, due to the local custom of lying on padding on floor being foreign to Europeans).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmætɹɪs/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ætɹɪs

Noun

mattress (plural mattresses)

A pad on which a person can recline and sleep, usually having an inner section of coiled springs covered with foam or other cushioning material then enclosed with cloth fabric.
A form of retaining wall used to support foundations or an embankment

Derived terms

air mattress
go to the mattresses
mattress cover
mattress pad
mattress protector
mattress topper

Translations

a pad on which a person can recline and sleep

Albanian: dyshek (sq) m
Apache:
Jicarilla: gołjóon
Arabic: فِرَاش‎ m (firāš), مَرْتَبَة‎ f (martaba)
Egyptian Arabic: مرتبة‎ f (martaba)
Gulf Arabic: دوشق‎ m (dawšag)
Armenian: ներքնակ (hy) (nerkʿnak), դոշակ (hy) (došak)
Asturian: colchón (ast) m
Azerbaijani: döşək (az), matras
Basque: lastaira
Belarusian: матра́с m (matrás), матра́ц m (matrác)
Bengali: তোশক (bn) (tośôkô)
Brunei Malay: tilam
Bulgarian: матра́к m (matrák), дюше́к m (djušék)
Burmese: မွေ့ရာ (my) (mwe.ra)
Catalan: matalàs (ca) m
Cherokee: ᎠᏤᏍᏙ (atsesdo)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 床褥 (cong⁴ juk^6-2)
Mandarin: 床墊／床垫 (zh) (chuángdiàn)
Crimean Tatar: töşek
Czech: matrace (cs) f
Danish: madras (da) c
Dutch: matras (nl) m
Esperanto: matraco
Estonian: madrats (et)
Faroese: madrassa f
Finnish: patja (fi)
French: matelas (fr) m
Galician: colchón m, xergón (gl) m, almadraque m
Georgian: ლეიბი (leibi), მატრასი (maṭrasi)
German: Matratze (de) f
Greek: στρώμα (el) n (stróma)
Ancient: στρῶμα n (strôma), στρωμνή f (strōmnḗ)
Haitian Creole: matla
Hebrew: מִזְרָן‎ (he) m (mizrán)
Hindi: गद्दा m (gaddā), गादी (hi) f (gādī), गद्दी f (gaddī), तोशक (hi) f (tośak)
Hungarian: matrac (hu), ágybetét (hu)
Hunsrik: Matratz f
Icelandic: dýna (is) f
Indonesian: matras (id)
Interlingua: matras
Italian: materasso (it) m
Japanese: 布団 (ja) (ふとん, futon), マットレス (ja) (mattoresu)
Kabuverdianu: koltxon
Kannada: ಮೆತ್ತೆ (kn) (mette)
Karachay-Balkar: тёшек (töşek)
Kazakh: матрас (matras)
Khmer: ពូក (km) (puuk)
Korean: 매트리스 (ko) (maeteuriseu), 요 (ko) (yo) (Korean style, on the floor)
Kumyk: тёшек (töşek)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دۆشەگ‎ (ku) (doşeg)
Northern Kurdish: doşek (ku) f, mitêl (ku) f, binrax (ku) f
Kyrgyz: матрас (matras)
Lao: ຟູກ (fūk), ເບາະ (lo) (bǫ)
Latin: culcita f
Latvian: matracis m
Lithuanian: čiužinys m, matracas m
Macedonian: душек m (dušek)
Malay: tilam (ms)
Manchu: ᠰᡳᠰᡥᡝ (sishe)
Maori: whāriki moenga, takapau
Marathi: गादी f (gādī)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: гудас (mn) (gudas)
Nepali: गद्दा (ne) (gaddā)
Ngazidja Comorian: goɗoro class 5/6
Nogai: тоьсек (tösek)
Norman: matenas m (Jersey)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: madrass (no) m
Nynorsk: madrass m
Ottoman Turkish: شلته‎ (şilte)
Pashto: توشکه‎ (ps) f (tošaka)
Persian: تشک‎ (fa) (tošak), دوشک‎ (fa) (došak), برخوابه‎ (fa) (barxâbe)
Plautdietsch: Madrauz f
Polish: materac (pl) m
Portuguese: colchão (pt) m
Romanian: saltea (ro) f
Russian: матра́с (ru) m (matrás), матра́ц (ru) m (matrác)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ду̀шек m, ма̀драц m
Roman: dùšek (sh) m, màdrac (sh) m
Sicilian: matarazzu (scn) m, matrazzu m
Slovak: matrac m
Spanish: colchón (es) m
Swahili: godoro (sw), mto (sw)
Swedish: madrass (sv) c
Tagalog: kutson
Taos: pį̏ę’éna
Telugu: పరుపు (te) (parupu), మెత్త (te) (metta)
Thai: ฟูก (th) (fûuk), เบาะ (th) (bɔ̀)
Tibetan: ཉལ་གདན (nyal gdan)
Tofa: төъһек
Turkish: döşek (tr), yatak (tr), şilte (tr)
Ukrainian: матра́ц m (matrác)
Urdu: توشَک‎ f (tośak), گَدّا‎ m (gaddā)
Urum: тӧшек
Uyghur: تەشتەك‎ (teshtek), ماتراس‎ (matras)
Uzbek: toʻshak (uz), matras (uz)
Vietnamese: nệm (vi)
Volapük: matrad (vo)
Welsh: matras f, matrasau m pl
West Coast Bajau: kasur
White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
Yiddish: מאַטראַץ‎ m (matrats)
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

engineering: a flat structure of brushwood or similar material used to provide a foundation for a structure including embankments

Dutch: zinkstuk (nl) n

Verb

mattress (third-person singular simple present mattresses, present participle mattressing, simple past and past participle mattressed)

(transitive) To cover with a thick layer, like a mattress; to blanket.
- 1997, Andrew R. M. Patterson, A planet through a field of stars (page 123)
  A comfortable litter of pine needles had mattressed the ground and spreading branches had been a canopy overhead.

Anagrams

smart set, smartest, smatters