couch v. sofa (v. settee v. chesterfield v. davenport v. divan)
Sunday, November 15, 2009 These are all pieces of furniture designed for two or more people. Couch, sofa, and settee are syonyms for a long upholstered seat with a back and arms; settee is used more frequently in British English. Traditionally, a couch was more like a chaise longue, having only one raised end and half a back, but this usage has been deprecated.
Chesterfield and davenport are both genericized words that also mean ‘sofa’. Specifically, chesterfield, a term in use in Canada and the western United States, and named after the Earl of Chesterfield, refers to a sofa whose upholstered arms and back are all the same height and curve outward at the top. Davenport sometimes connotes a sofa that can fold out into a bed.
A divan is a backless sofa in which pillows are used to support the back and arms.