Skip to content
Ojalá
Words
Certain: The standard etymology in the RAE dictionary and in Corriente; no serious doubt.Home & town · Everyday

sofá

sofa, couchasiento mullido con respaldo para varias personas

Comes from Arabic

صُفَّة

ṣuffa

“bench or dais built against a wall”«banco o estrado adosado a la pared»

Arabic today says

أَرِيكَة

arīka

Root

ص ف ف

ṣ-f-f

The article

It came in without the article.

The story

It did not come through al-Andalus: Turkish took sofa from Arabic ṣuffa, French took it from Turkish, and Spanish from French, as late as the 18th century.No llegó por al-Andalus: el turco tomó sofa del árabe ṣuffa, el francés del turco y el castellano del francés, ya en el siglo XVIII.

In a sentence

Se quedó dormido en el sofá.

He fell asleep on the sofa.

نَامَ عَلَى الأَرِيكَة.

More from “Home & town”