Also 7 soffa, 7–9 sopha; 8 sophee, sophy, 9 vulg. sofy, [= F. sofa, sopha, It., Sp. and Pg. sofa, ad. Arnb. ṣoffah.]
1. In Eastern countries, a part of the floor raised a foot or two, covered with rich carpets and cushions, and used for sitting upon.
α. 1625. Purchas, Pilgrims, II. IX. 1581. A Sofa spread with very sumptuous Carpets of Gold,… vpon which the Grand Signior sitteth.
1682. Lond. Gaz., No. 1683/3. The Grand Vizier came thither soon after, and sate down on a Stool placed on the Sofa.
1717. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. (1893), I. 284. The next room is a very large one paved with marble, and all round it, raised, two sofas of marble, one above another.
1841. Lane, Arab. Nts., I. 104. He … beheld … a young man sitting on a sofa raised to the height of a cubit from the floor.
β. c. 1637. Sir G. Courthop, Mem., 124. A Sopha, which is a place raised from the floor about a foot to sit on.
1682. Wheler, Journ. Greece, V. 350. Making us sit upon a Sopha, and drink Coffee with him.
1808. Parsons, Trav. Asia, etc. ii. 22. I paid a visit to the pasha … and found him sitting on his sopha.
transf. 1768. Sterne, Sent. Journ., The Grace. The old man and his wife…, placing me betwixt them, sat down upon a sopha of turf by the door.
2. A long, stuffed seat with a back and ends or end, used for reclining; a form of lounge or couch.
α. 1717. Berkeley, Tour Italy, Wks. 1871, IV. 530. The bridegroom sits on a very low sort of seat not unlike an oriental sofa.
1784. Cowper, Task, I. 88. Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs, And luxury th’ accomplish’d Sofa last.
1812. Crabbe, Tales, v. 530. The splendid sofa, which, though made for rest, He then had thought it freedom to have press’d.
1849. Lyell, 2nd Visit U. S., II. 47. Sofas, rocking chairs, tables, and a stove are placed in this room.
1877. Mrs. Forrester, Mignon, I. 275. She makes him lie on a sofa near the open window.
transf. 1864. E. Burritt, Walk Lond. to John O’Groat’s, 313. A row of flower sofas reaching around the garden.
β. 1728. Young, Love of Fame, V. 135. On her sophee she sits, Vouchsafing audience to contending wits.
1753–4. Richardson, Grandison (1781), V. xxiv. 146. I threw myself on a sopha.
1806. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life, II. xxxiii. After having … diffused yourself on the sopha.
1832. Country Houses, II. xii. 10. On a sopha in the green-room.
3. attrib., as sofa-corner, -cushion, -pillow, etc.
1797–1805. S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., III. 139. A circular pavilion, elegantly fitted up with cushions and sopha seats.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Doubts & F., v. On the opposite side of the sofa table.
1840. Thackeray, Shabby-genteel Story, vi. That well-known sofa-corner. Ibid. (1848), Van. Fair, xxi. It was all I could do to prevent myself from throwing the sofa-cushion at her.
a. 1848. Marryat, Valerie, viii. The bottle … which I had … left under the sofa-pillow.
b. Objective, as sofa-maker, -stuffer.
1836. T. Hook, G. Gurney (1850), I. iii. 43. My friend, the sofa-maker, never troubled himself to inquire after me.
1859. J. C. Atkinson, Walks & Talks (1892), 4. A beard that would have been a small fortune to a sofa-stuffer.
4. Special combs., as sofa-bed, -bedstead, a piece of furniture so constructed as to form a sofa or bed as required; sofa-carriage, a carriage having the seat made like that of a sofa; sofa-ridden, confined to a sofa (nonce-wd.); † sofa stall, a seat in a hall or theater made like a sofa.
1816. Repton, Landscape Gard., Fragm. on Theory (1840), 585. To have dressing-rooms, in which *sofa-beds may … be used.
1823. De Quincey, Incognito, Wks. 1862, X. 9. Down went the little sofa-bed in a closet.
1891. T. Hardy, Tess, II. xxxvii. 247. She induced him to lie down on his own sofa bed.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 650. We shall give some Designs … for *sofa-bedsteads.
1841. Thackeray, Gt. Hoggarty Diam., xi. A little dusky sofa-bedstead (woe betide him who has to sleep on it!).
1822–9. Good, Study Med., III. 234. The use of his easy and convenient *sofa-carriage.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 5686, Sofa carriages, especially constructed for spinal complaints.
1826. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. III. (1863), 496. There she sat, *sofa-ridden.
1862. Notice Mason Jones’ Oration on Garibaldi, 8 April. *Sofa Stalls. Four Shillings.
Hence Sofaed ppl. a., seated as on a sofa. Sofane a., pertaining to a sofa (nonce-wd.).
1789. E. Darwin, Bot. Gard., II. (1791), 69. Sopha’d on silk, amid her charm-built towers,… In sullen apathy Papaver nods.
1860. Dickens, Uncomm. Trav., vi. A sofa, of incomprehensible form regarded from any sofane point of view.
