/ˈfuːtɒn/, /ˈfutɑn/
OriginBorrowed from Japanese 布団 (futon), in turn from Middle Chinese 蒲團 (MC bu dwan, “meditation cushion”) (compare Mandarin 蒲团 (pútuán)), from 蒲 (bu, “bulrush, cattail”) + 團 (dwan, “sphere, round object”) from the way the original cushion was round and made from woven bulrushes.
- A thin mattress of tufted cotton or similar material, placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame as a bed.
“The Japanese bed is the floor, with a wooden box under the neck for a pillow and a futon for a covering. To the foreigner the Japanese landlord allows five or six futons, or cotton-wadded comforters, ”
“The futon are easily aired, and may be carried about readily when moving.”
“Normally one or two futon are laid on tatami, several inches of straw matting recessed into the floor, providing a firm but extremely comfortable night’s rest.”
- A round cushion used for Zen meditation, traditionally made of woven bulrush leaves.
- A specific kind of sofa-bed, with a fixed cushion that forms a mattress when folded down and a sofa when folded up.
“I was 18 years old, sleeping on a futon, cooking on a George Foreman grill and showering at a friend's house every few days.”
- abbreviation, alt-of, uncountableAbbreviation of full text on the Net: the presence of the complete text of an academic paper on the Internet, seen as a potential biasing factor in which papers get cited most often.
Formsfutons(plural) · futon(plural)