sofa

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sofa"

Languages (21)

English

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Chinese • Danish • Dutch • French • Icelandic • Indonesian • Interlingua • Jamaican Creole • Japanese • Lithuanian • Norman • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Norse • Polish • Romanian • Serbo-Croatian • Swahili • Turkish • Veps

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Page categories

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French sofa, ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick, covered with rich carpets and cushions and used for sitting”). Cognate with Aramaic צפא/Classical Syriac ܨܦܬܐ (ṣipā’, ṣeppəṯā, “mat, matting”). The word may have entered European languages via Muslim Iberia or through Turkish.

A firm sofa

A soft sofa

A modern-style sofa

Alternative forms

• sopha (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊ̯fə/, /ˈsɵʊ̯fə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊ̯fə/, /ˈsɔʊ̯fə/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊfə
• Hyphenation: so‧fa

Noun

sofa (plural sofas)

1. (Middle East architecture, archaic) A raised area of a building's floor, usually covered with carpeting, used for sitting.
2. (furniture) An upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, long enough to comfortably accommodate two or more people.

   Synonyms: couch, lounge, divan, settee

   He bought a big sofa two days before his relatives arrived.

   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 228:

     His eyes trailed over her feline pose on the sofa, finding her limbs adorable while he tried exasperatedly to extract the truth of licentious revelations from them.

   • 2024, “Hot One”, in King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2, performed by Denzel Curry:

     I can make money from the comfort of my sofa / So much drive, now I gotta get a chauffeur

Derived terms

• cornucopia sofa
• moving sofa problem
• sofa-bed
• sofa-bedstead
• sofa constant
• sofaful
• sofa king
• sofaless
• sofalike
• sofa painting
• sofa problem
• sofa set
• sofa sleeper
• sofa-sleeper
• sofa spud
• sofa surf
• sofa surfer
• sofa surfing
• sofa table

Descendants

• → Assamese: চোফা (süpha)
• → Burmese: ဆိုဖာ (hcuihpa)
• → Cantonese: 梳化 (so¹ faa^3-2)
• → Hindi: सोफ़ा (sofā)
• → Japanese: ソファ (sofa)
• → Kashubian: zofa
• → Korean: 소파 (sopa) (Canada)
• → Norman: sofa
• → Penang Hokkien: sofa
• → Swahili: sofa
• → Thai: โซฟา (soo-faa)
• → Urdu: صوفہ (sofā)
• → Welsh: soffa
• → Wu: 沙發 / 沙发 (¹so-faq₇)
  • → Mandarin: 沙發 / 沙发 (shāfā)
    • → Lü: ᦌᦱᧈᦝᦱᧉ (saa¹faa²)
    • → Mongolian:

      Cyrillic script: шафа (šafa)

      Mongolian script: ᠱᠠᠹᠠ (šafa)

    • → Uyghur: سافا (safa)
    • → Wutunhua: shafa
    • → Zaiwa: shafa
    • → Zhuang: sahfaz

Translations

upholstered seat

• Albanian: divan (sq) m, kanape (sq) f
• Altai:

  Southern Altai: софа (sofa), диван (divan)

• Arabic: أَرِيكَة (ar) f (ʔarīka), كَنَبَة f (kanaba), تَخْت (ar) f (taḵt), دِيوَان m (dīwān)

  Egyptian Arabic: كنبة f (kanaba)

  Hijazi Arabic: كنبة f (kanaba)

  Iraqi Arabic: قنفة (qánafa)

  South Levantine Arabic: كنبة (kánaba, kánabe), كنباية (kanabāye), صوْفا (ṣōfa)

• Armenian: բազմոց (hy) (bazmocʻ), թախտ (hy) (tʻaxt)
• Assamese: চোফা (süpha)
• Asturian: sofá (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: divan (az)
• Belarusian: кана́па f (kanápa), сафа́ f (safá)
• Bengali: সোফা (bn) (śōpha)
• Breton: gourvezvank (br) m
• Bulgarian: дива́н (bg) m (diván), канапе́ (bg) n (kanapé), куше́тка (bg) f (kušétka)
• Burmese: ဆိုဖာ (my) (hcuihpa)
• Catalan: sofà (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 梳化 (yue) (so¹ faa^3-2), 梳化椅 (so¹ faa^3-2 ji²)

  Dungan: диван (divan)

  Hokkien: 膨椅 (zh-min-nan) (phòng-í)

  Mandarin: 沙發 / 沙发 (zh) (shāfā), 沙發椅 / 沙发椅 (shāfāyǐ)

  Northern Min: 沙發 / 沙发 (sá-huă)

  Wu: 沙發 / 沙发 (¹so-faq₇), 沙發椅 / 沙发椅 (¹so-faq-iu)

• Crimean Tatar: divan
• Czech: pohovka (cs) f, gauč (cs) m, sofa (cs) f, divan (cs) m
• Danish: sofa (da) c
• Dusun:

  Central Dusun: sofa

• Dutch: bank (nl) m or f, zetel (nl) m, sofa (nl) m
• Erzya: чевтезем (čevtezem)
• Esperanto: sofo, kanapo
• Estonian: sohva
• Finnish: sohva (fi)
• French: canapé (fr) m, sofa (fr) m
• Galician: sofá (gl) m
• Georgian: ტახტი (ka) (ṭaxṭi)
• German: Sofa (de) n, Couch (de) f
• Greek: καναπές (el) m (kanapés)
• Hebrew: סַפָּה (he) f (sapa)
• Hindi: सोफ़ा m (sofā), सोफा (hi) m (sophā), तख़्त m (taxt)
• Hungarian: dívány (hu), kanapé (hu), szófa (hu) sg
• Icelandic: sófi (is) m
• Indonesian: sofa (id), dipan (id)
• Interlingua: sofa
• Italian: divano (it) m, sofà (it) m
• Japanese: ソファー (ja) (sofā), ソファ (ja) (sofa), 長椅子 (ja) (ながいす, nagaisu), カウチ (ja) (kauchi)
• Kazakh: диван (divan)
• Khmer: អាសន្ទិ (km) (ʼaasɑntiʼ)
• Korean: 소파 (ko) (sopa), 카우치 (kauchi), 쇼파 (syopa)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: قەنەفە (ckb) (qenefe)

  Northern Kurdish: qenepe (ku)

• Kyrgyz: диван (ky) (divan)
• Lao: ຊໍ່ຟ້າ (sǭ fā), ເກົ້າອີ້ຍາວ (kao ʼī nyāo), ເກົ້າອີ້ນອນ (kao ʼī nǭn)
• Latin: cubīle n, lectus (la) m, sponda f, pulvīnar n
• Latvian: dīvāns m, sofa f
• Lithuanian: sofa (lt) f, kanapa (lt) f
• Lü: ᦌᦱᧈᦝᦱᧉ (saa¹faa²)
• Macedonian: софа f (sofa), диван m (divan), кауч m (kauč), канабе n (kanabe)
• Malay: sofa (ms)
• Malayalam: സോഫ (sōpha)
• Maltese: sufan m
• Māori: hōpa
• Marathi: सोफा m (sophā)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: буйдан (mn) (bujdan), софа (sofa), диван (divan)

  Mongolian script: ᠪᠤᠶᠢᠳᠠᠩ (buyidang), ᠱᠠᠹᠠ (šafa), ᠳ᠋ᠢᠸᠠᠨ (diwan)

• Norman: jontchéthe f (Jersey), sofa m (Jersey, Guernsey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sofa (no) m

  Nynorsk: sofa m

• Pashto: کوچ (ps) m (kauč), تخت (ps) m (taxt)
• Persian:

  Dari: کَوْچ (kawč), تَخْت (taxt)

  Iranian Persian: کاناپِه (kânâpe), تَخْت (taxt), نیمْکَت (nimkat)

• Plautdietsch: Soofa n, Kwotsch f
• Polish: kanapa (pl) f, sofa (pl) f
• Portuguese: sofá (pt) m
• Romanian: canapea (ro) f, sofa (ro) f
• Russian: софа́ (ru) f (sofá), дива́н (ru) m (diván), куше́тка (ru) f (kušétka), тахта́ (ru) f (taxtá), канапе́ (ru) n (kanapɛ́)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: suffá

• Sanskrit: तल्प (sa) m (talpa)
• Scottish Gaelic: langasaid f, suaineachan m, sunnag f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ле̏жа̄ј m, дѝва̄н m, со̀фа f

  Latin: lȅžāj (sh) m, dìvān (sh) m, sòfa (sh) f

• Sinhalese: සෝෆා (sōfā)
• Slovak: pohovka f, diván m, sofa f
• Slovene: kavč m, zofa f
• Spanish: sofá (es) m, sillón (es) m (Costa Rica)
• Swedish: soffa (sv) c
• Sylheti: ꠍꠥꠚꠣ (súfá)
• Tagalog: sopa
• Tajik: кат (tg) (kat), диван (divan), нимкат (nimkat)
• Tatar: диван (diwan)
• Thai: โซฟา (th) (soo-faa)
• Tibetan: རྐུབ་ཀྱག་སོ་ཕྰ (rkub kyag so ph'a)
• Turkish: kanepe (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: قاناپه (kanape), صفه (sofa)

• Turkmen: diwan
• Ukrainian: софа́ f (sofá), дива́н (uk) m (dyván), кана́па (uk) f (kanápa)
• Urdu: صوفَہ m (sofa), تَخْت m (taxt)
• Uyghur: دىۋان (diwan), سافا (safa)
• Uzbek: divan (uz), sofa (uz), kat (uz)
• Vietnamese: xô-pha, ghế xô-pha, đi văng, đi-văng, ghế sofa, ghế dài (vi), trường kỷ (vi)
• Welsh: soffa (cy) f, glwth m, glythau m pl
• Wutunhua: shafa
• Yiddish: סאָפֿע f (sofe)
• Zhuang: sahfaz

See also

• love seat

Verb

sofa (third-person singular simple present sofas, present participle sofaing, simple past and past participle sofaed)

1. To furnish with one or more sofas.
   • 1852, Charles Astor Bristed, Five years in an English university, page 14:

     The appearance of a student's apartment, though by no means splendid, is decidedly comfortable ; it is well cushioned and sofaed, with a proper proportion of arm chairs, and a general air of respectability — much better on the whole than our student's rooms ever are.

   • 1890, Stanley Lane-Poole, The Life of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe - Volume 1, page 100:

     First, it will surprize you to learn that instead of the venerable simplicity which reigns in St. Stephen's chapel, the H. of Representatives, besides being stoved, carpeted, desked, and sofaed in the most luxurious style, rivals and indeed surpasses the Legislature of Paris in decoration and drapery.

   • 1893, Henry Swinglehurst, Silver Mines and Incidents of Travel, page 97:

     I and another therefore entirely occupied our stateroom, which was sofaed round, being just large enough for two to lie down and a third to sit with his feet up and his head on his knees.

   • 1981, David A. Kaufelt, The Wine and the Music, page 331:

     It was a lavish, fully draped, fully sofaed, fully radiator-covered nineteenth-century deluxe German hotel suite.

2. To seat or lay down on a sofa.
   • 1895, Denver Medical Times - Volume 5, page 191:

     Cliques of three or more are formed, each member of which goes in search of victims, and the first female found complaining of pain in the lower part of her back, is immediately run down, corralled, cornered, so to speak, and sans ceremonie she is at once tabled, sofaed or beded, or in the absence of these relics of refinement she is floored or she may have to submit standing (especially if the doctor is in a hury and meets her at the gate or corner drug store) with an unerring plunge, of a not overly clean index finger, the darksome cavern is penetrated and perhaps, not, a cervix is touched and reveals, of course, a lacerated cervix, just as had been predicted.

   • 1880 October 22, Benjamin Disraeli, chapter XVI, in George Earle Buckle, editor, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, volume VI: 1876–1881, published 1929, Hughenden Manor; To Lady Bradford, page 592:

     A few, feeble words—my first—to tell you I have left my room this morning and am shaven and shorn and dressed and sofaed in my writing room, after a terrible ten days or more.

   • 2006, Kim Akass, Janet McCabe, Reading 'Desperate Housewives': Beyond the White Picket Fence:

     Many a time back in my boozing days when I was sofaed too.

References

• "sofa, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Etymology 2

Noun

sofa (plural sofas)

1. (historical) A slave soldier who served in the army of the Mali Empire.
   • 2006, Magbaily C. Fyle, Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone, page xx:

     1884 Sofas conquer northern Sierra Leone. The sofas were soldiers of Mandinka empire builder, Samori Turay. Falaba, capital of Solima Yalunka kingdom, destroyed in the process.

Anagrams

• OFAs, as of, oafs

Chinese

Etymology

From English sofa.

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): só-fá

---

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Penang)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: só-fá
    • Tâi-lô: só-fá
    • Sinological IPA (Penang): /so⁴⁴⁵⁻⁴⁴ fa⁴⁴⁵/

Noun

sofa

1. (Penang Hokkien) sofa

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 沙發 (“sofa; couch”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		沙發
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	沙發
	Taiwan	沙發, 沙發椅
	Chifeng	沙發
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	沙發
	Harbin	沙發
	Shenyang	沙發
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	沙發
	Tangshan	沙發
	Cangzhou	沙發
	Baoding	沙發
	Shijiazhuang	沙發
	Jinan	沙發
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Qingdao	沙發
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	沙發
	Zhengzhou	沙發
	Xi'an	沙發
	Xining	沙發
	Xuzhou	沙發
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	底萬
	Masanchin (Shaanxi Dungan)	基萬
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	沙發
	Lanzhou	沙發
	Ürümqi	沙發
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	沙發
	Chongqing	沙發
	Wuhan	沙發, 氣椅 dated
	Guiyang	沙發
	Kunming	沙發
	Guilin	沙發
	Liuzhou	沙發
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	沙發
	Yangzhou	沙發
	Nantong	沙發
	Hefei	沙發
Cantonese	Guangzhou	梳化, 梳化椅
	Hong Kong	梳化, 梳化椅
	Taishan	梳化
	Dongguan	梳化
Gan	Lichuan	沙發
Hakka	Meixian	沙發
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	膨凳
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	膨凳
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	膨凳
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	膨凳
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	膨凳
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	膨椅
Huizhou	Shexian	沙發
Jin	Taiyuan	沙發
	Xinzhou	沙發
	Linhe	沙發
	Jining	沙發
	Hohhot	沙發
	Zhangjiakou	沙發
	Handan	沙發
Northern Min	Jian'ou	沙發, 沙發椅
Eastern Min	Matsu	沙發椅
Southern Min	Xiamen	膨椅
	Quanzhou	膨椅
	Zhangzhou	膨椅
	Tainan	膨椅
	Penang (Hokkien)	sofa
	Singapore (Hokkien)	沙發
	Manila (Hokkien)	沙發椅
	Chaozhou	沙發
	Wenchang	沙發
	Haikou	彈弓椅, 沙發椅
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	沙發
Wu	Shanghai	沙發, 沙發椅
	Danyang	沙發椅子
	Wenzhou	沙發椅

Danish

Etymology

From French sofa, via Turkish sofa, ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa).

Noun

sofa c (singular definite sofaen, plural indefinite sofaer)

1. sofa, couch, divan, settee

Declension

Declension of sofa

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	sofa	sofaen	sofaer	sofaerne
genitive	sofas	sofaens	sofaers	sofaernes

Derived terms

• chesterfieldsofa
• gyngesofa
• hjørnesofa
• lædersofa
• plyssofa
• sofaarrangement
• sofabord
• sofagruppe
• sofaryg
• sofasæde
• sovesofa

See also

• divan

References

• “sofa” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French sofa, perhaps via Turkish sofa, ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsoː.faː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: so‧fa

Noun

sofa m (plural sofa's, diminutive sofaatje n)

1. (chiefly Belgium) a couch, a sofa

   Synonyms: bank, zitbank

French

sofa

Etymology

Ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick”), from Aramaic צפא (ṣipā’, “mat”)/Classical Syriac ܨܦܬܐ. The word may have entered French via Turkish sofa.

Note casually that Arabic itself uses كَنَبة (kanaba) for “sofa”, from French canapé.

Pronunciation

• (France) IPA^(key): /sɔ.fa/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /so.fa/; /so.fɔ/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Homophone: sofas

Noun

sofa m (plural sofas)

1. couch; sofa

   Synonym: canapé

Descendants

• → Asturian: sofá
• → Catalan: sofà
• → Czech: sofà
• → Danish: sofa
• → Dutch: sofa
  • Indonesian: sofa
• → English: sofa (see there for further descendants)
• → Galician: sofá
• → German: Sofa
  • → Estonian: sohva
  • → Kashubian: zófa
  • → Silesian: zŏfa
• → Hungarian: szófa
• → Hunsrik: Sofa
• → Icelandic: sófi
• → Italian: sofà
• → Lithuanian: sofa
• → Northern Sami: suffá
• → Norwegian: sofa
• → Plautdietsch: Soofa
• → Polish: sofa
• → Portuguese: sofá
• → Romanian: sofa
• → Russian: софа (sofa)
  • → Veps: sofa
• → Serbo-Croatian: sofa / софа
• → Spanish: sofá
• → Swedish: soffa
  • → Finnish: sohva
    • → Ingrian: sohva
• → Uzbek: sofa
• → Yiddish: סאָפֿע (sofe)

Further reading

• “sofa”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse sofa, from Proto-Germanic *swefaną. Unrelated to English sofa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɔːva]
• Rhymes: -ɔːva

Verb

sofa (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative svaf, third-person plural past indicative sváfum, supine sofið)

1. (intransitive) to sleep

   Ekki vekja hana, hún er sofandi. ― Don't wake her up, she's sleeping.

Conjugation

sofa – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að sofa
supine sagnbót		sofið
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		sofandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	sef	svaf		sofi	svæfi
	þú	sefur	svafst		sofir	svæfir
	hann, hún, það	sefur	svaf		sofi	svæfi
plural	við	sofum	sváfum		sofum	svæfum
	þið	sofið	sváfuð		sofið	svæfuð
	þeir, þær, þau	sofa	sváfu		sofi	svæfu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	sof (þú), sofðu
plural	þið	sofið (þið), sofiði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

Derived terms

• fara að sofa (“to go to bed”)
• sofa hjá (“to sleep with, to have sex with”)
• sofa laust (“to sleep lightly”)
• sofa yfir sig (“to oversleep”)
• sofandi (“sleeping”)

Related terms

• sofna
• syfja

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch sofa, from French sofa, ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsofa/ [ˈso.fa]
• Rhymes: -ofa
• Syllabification: so‧fa

Noun

sofa (plural sofa-sofa)

1. sofa: an upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, long enough to comfortably accommodate two or more people

Derived terms

• sofa bulir
• sofa dua dudukan
• sofa huruf L
• sofa L
• sofa lipat
• sofa ranjang
• sofa satu dudukan
• sofa tidur
• sofa tiga dudukan

• bantal sofa

Further reading

• “sofa”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Interlingua

Noun

sofa (plural sofas)

1. (item of furniture) sofa

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

Derived from English suffer.

Verb

sofa

1. to suffer, to be troubled, to be distressed
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, 2 Korintiyan 1:6:

     So ef wi sofa, wi a sofa kaaz wi waahn fi elp unu an wi waahn unu fi kip chrang. An ef wi get elp, unu wuda a get elp tu. Kaaz unu wi nuo se wen unu a sofa laik wi, fi unu elp wi kom. An dat wi mek unu gwaan kip chrang wen chobl tek unu.

     If we are in distress, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are being comforted, it is for your comfort, which results in you patiently bearing the same sufferings that we suffer.

Derived terms

• sofarieshan

Japanese

Romanization

sofa

1. Rōmaji transcription of ソファ

Lithuanian

juodoji sofa prie sienos

Etymology

Borrowed from French sofa or Italian sofà, ultimately from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick”). Compare Russian софа́ (sofá).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [soːˈfɐ]
• Rhymes: -ɐ
• Syllabification: so‧fà

Noun

sofà f (plural sòfos) stress pattern 2

1. sofa, couch

Declension

Declension of sofà

	singular	plural
nominative	sofà	sòfos
genitive	sòfos	sòfų
dative	sòfai	sòfoms
accusative	sòfą	sofàs
instrumental	sofà	sòfomis
locative	sòfoje	sòfose
vocative	sòfa	sòfos

References

• “sofa”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2026
• “sofa”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2026

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from English sofa.

Noun

sofa m (plural sofas)

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) sofa

Synonyms

• jontchéthe

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

sofa m (definite singular sofaen, indefinite plural sofaer, definite plural sofaene)

1. sofa, couch

References

• “sofa” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsuːfɑ/

Noun

sofa m (definite singular sofaen, indefinite plural sofaer or sofaar, definite plural sofaene or sofaane)

1. a sofa or couch

References

• “sofa” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *swefaną. Etymologically unrelated to English sofa.

Verb

sofa (singular present indicative sefr or søfr, singular past indicative svaf, plural past indicative sváfu or sófu, past participle sofinn)

1. to sleep

Usage notes

• This verb (like vaka) takes an adjective in the masculine accusative singular as an adverb, presumably modifying the noun svefn, for instance

  sǿtan sofa

  sleep sweetly

  (literally, “sleep a sweet [sleep]”)

Conjugation

Conjugation of sofa — active (irregular, strong class 4)

infinitive	sofa
present participle	sofandi
past participle	sofinn
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	sef, søf	svaf		sofa	sœfa, svæfa
2nd person singular	sefr, søfr	svaft		sofir	sœfir, svæfir
3rd person singular	sefr, søfr	svaf		sofi	sœfi, svæfi
1st person plural	sofum	sófum, sváfum		sofim	sœfim, svæfim
2nd person plural	sofið	sófuð, sváfuð		sofið	sœfið, svæfið
3rd person plural	sofa	sófu, sváfu		sofi	sœfi, svæfi
imperative	present
2nd person singular	sof
1st person plural	sofum
2nd person plural	sofið

Related terms

• sofna
• svefn m

Descendants

• Icelandic: sofa
• Faroese: sova
• Norwegian Nynorsk: sova, sove
• Jamtish: sovo
• Elfdalian: såvå
• Old Swedish: sova
  • Swedish: sova
• Old Danish: souæ
  • Danish: sove
    • Norwegian Bokmål: sove
  • Scanian: søva
• Gutnish: syve

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “sofa”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French sofa, from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick”), from Aramaic צפא (ṣipā’, “mat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɔ.fa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔfa
• Syllabification: so‧fa

Noun

sofa f (diminutive sofka)

1. sofa, couch

Declension

Declension of sofa

	singular	plural
nominative	sofa	sofy
genitive	sofy	sof
dative	sofie	sofom
accusative	sofę	sofy
instrumental	sofą	sofami
locative	sofie	sofach
vocative	sofo	sofy

Further reading

• “sofa”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “sofa”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish [script needed] (sofa), from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “a long seat made of stone or brick”), from Aramaic צפא (ṣipā’, “mat”).

Noun

sofa f (plural sofale)

1. sofa

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	sofa	sofaua	sofale	sofalele
genitive-dative	sofale	sofalei	sofale	sofalelor
vocative	sofa		sofalelor

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

sòfa f (Cyrillic spelling со̀фа)

1. (Serbia) sofa

   Synonym: kauč (Croatia)

Declension

Declension of sofa

	singular	plural
nominative	sofa	sofe
genitive	sofe	sofa
dative	sofi	sofama
accusative	sofu	sofe
vocative	sofo	sofe
locative	sofi	sofama
instrumental	sofom	sofama

See also

• divan

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from English sofa.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

sofa class IX (plural sofa class X)

1. sofa

Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish صفه (ṣuffa, ṣofa, “a porch or hall with benches, a recess in a hall or ante-room”), from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “bench, sofa, vestibule”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soˈfa/
• Hyphenation: so‧fa

Noun

sofa (definite accusative sofayı, plural sofalar)

1. An area in the house where all rooms open into; hall, hallway.

   Synonyms: hol, salon

Declension

Declension of sofa

singular plural nominative sofa sofalar definite accusative sofayı sofaları dative sofaya sofalara locative sofada sofalarda ablative sofadan sofalardan genitive sofanın sofaların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular sofam sofalarım 2nd singular sofan sofaların 3rd singular sofası sofaları 1st plural sofamız sofalarımız 2nd plural sofanız sofalarınız 3rd plural sofaları sofaları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular sofamı sofalarımı 2nd singular sofanı sofalarını 3rd singular sofasını sofalarını 1st plural sofamızı sofalarımızı 2nd plural sofanızı sofalarınızı 3rd plural sofalarını sofalarını dative singular plural 1st singular sofama sofalarıma 2nd singular sofana sofalarına 3rd singular sofasına sofalarına 1st plural sofamıza sofalarımıza 2nd plural sofanıza sofalarınıza 3rd plural sofalarına sofalarına locative singular plural 1st singular sofamda sofalarımda 2nd singular sofanda sofalarında 3rd singular sofasında sofalarında 1st plural sofamızda sofalarımızda 2nd plural sofanızda sofalarınızda 3rd plural sofalarında sofalarında ablative singular plural 1st singular sofamdan sofalarımdan 2nd singular sofandan sofalarından 3rd singular sofasından sofalarından 1st plural sofamızdan sofalarımızdan 2nd plural sofanızdan sofalarınızdan 3rd plural sofalarından sofalarından genitive singular plural 1st singular sofamın sofalarımın 2nd singular sofanın sofalarının 3rd singular sofasının sofalarının 1st plural sofamızın sofalarımızın 2nd plural sofanızın sofalarınızın 3rd plural sofalarının sofalarının

Derived terms

• nohut oda, bakla sofa

Related terms

• misafir odası
• mutfak
• oda
• oturma odası
• yatak odası

Further reading

• “sofa”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “sofa¹”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 4277

Veps

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian софа́ (sofá).

Noun

sofa

1. sofa

Inflection

Inflection of sofa (inflection type 6/kuva)
nominative sing.	sofa
genitive sing.	sofan
partitive sing.	sofad
partitive plur.	sofid
	singular	plural
nominative	sofa	sofad
accusative	sofan	sofad
genitive	sofan	sofiden
partitive	sofad	sofid
essive-instructive	sofan	sofin
translative	sofaks	sofikš
inessive	sofas	sofiš
elative	sofaspäi	sofišpäi
illative	sofaha sofha	sofihe
adessive	sofal	sofil
ablative	sofalpäi	sofilpäi
allative	sofale	sofile
abessive	sofata	sofita
comitative	sofanke	sofidenke
prolative	sofadme	sofidme
approximative I	sofanno	sofidenno
approximative II	sofannoks	sofidennoks
egressive	sofannopäi	sofidennopäi
terminative I	sofahasai sofhasai	sofihesai
terminative II	sofalesai	sofilesai
terminative III	sofassai	—
additive I	sofahapäi sofhapäi	sofihepäi
additive II	sofalepäi	sofilepäi

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “тахта”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[4], Petrozavodsk: Periodika