MATTRESS

noun Etymology: Middle English materas, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin materacium, from Arabic maṭraḥ place where something is thrown Date: 14th century 1. a fabric case filled with resilient material (as cotton, hair, feathers, foam rubber, or an arrangement of coiled springs) used either alone as a bed or on a bedstead, an inflatable airtight sack for use as a ~, a device (as of interwoven brush and poles) used to protect a shoreline, bank, or streambed from erosion