sofa

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sofa^¹

/ˈsəʊ̯fə/ UK
/ˈsɵʊ̯fə/ UK
/ˈsoʊ̯fə/ US
/ˈsɔʊ̯fə/ US

Rhymes with -əʊfə

Where it comes from

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.

noun sofas · sopha

East, Middle, archaic A raised area of a building's floor, usually covered with carpeting, used for sitting.
An upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, long enough to comfortably accommodate two or more people. He bought a big sofa two days before his relatives arrived.
Similar: couch, lounge, divan, settee

verb sofas · sofaing · sofaed · sopha

To furnish with one or more sofas. 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.
To seat or lay down on a sofa. 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 o

sofa^²

noun sofas

historical A slave soldier who served in the army of the Mali Empire. 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.

SOFA^³

proper noun

abbreviation, acronym Acronym of Standards of Fundamental Astronomy
abbreviation, acronym Acronym of Simulation Open Framework Architecture

noun SOFAs

abbreviation, acronym Acronym of status of forces agreement, an agreement that allows long-term garrisoning of foreign troops in the host country.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: couch, lounge, chesterfield, armchair, chair, furniture, wheelchair, spot, toast, divan, suva, sofia, sufa, settee, davenport, loveseat

Translations

Every language

noun upholstered seat

Español	sofá, sillón
한국어	소파 sopa, 카우치 kauchi, 쇼파 syopa
日本語	ソファー sofā, ソファ sofa, 長椅子 nagaisu, カウチ kauchi
中文	沙發 /沙发 shāfā, 沙發椅 /沙发椅 shāfāyǐ
हिन्दी	सोफ़ा sofā, सोफा sophā, तख़्त taxt
Português	sofá
Français	canapé, sofa
Deutsch	Sofa, Couch
Italiano	divano, sofà
Ελληνικά	καναπές kanapés
Română	canapea, sofa
Русский	софа́ sofá, дива́н diván, куше́тка kušétka, тахта́ taxtá, канапе́ kanapɛ́
Tiếng Việt	xô-pha, ghế xô-pha, đi văng, đi-văng, ghế sofa, ghế dài
العربية	أَرِيكَة ʔarīka, كَنَبَة kanaba, تَخْت taḵt, دِيوَان dīwān
עברית	סַפָּה sapa

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MLA

"sofa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sofa. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

sofa. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sofa

Chicago

"sofa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sofa.

BibTeX

@misc{sofa_2026,
  title = {sofa},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sofa},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}