pillow

Where does the word "pillow" come from? It comes from Latin pulvinus, passing through Old English before entering English (1300s).

Pillow’s story begins in Latin: pulvinus meant “cushion.” A cushion; its derivative pulvinar was the cushioned couch on which images of the gods were laid at a lectisternium feast. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old English as pyle. Borrowed through West Germanic, like German Pfühl 'bolster'. It reached English by 1300s as pillow. 'pillow talk' is recorded from the 1930s and became the title of the 1959 Doris Day and Rock Hudson film. Today, pillow means a cushion to support the head in bed.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · classical pulvinus "cushion", a cushion; its derivative pulvinar was the cushioned couch on which images of the gods were laid at a lectisternium feast.
2. Stage 2 · Old English · medieval pyle "cushion", borrowed through West Germanic, like German Pfühl 'bolster'.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1300s pillow "head cushion for sleeping", 'pillow talk' is recorded from the 1930s and became the title of the 1959 Doris Day and Rock Hudson film.