Dictionary

futon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfuːtɒn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈfutɑn/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed 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.

Meanings

1. A thin mattress of tufted cotton or similar material, placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame as a bed.
   • Some futon (cotton-filled comforters and mattresses) were piled in one corner and few clothing belonging to father hung on some nails on the wall. 2015, Heidi Kim, editor, Taken from the Paradise Isle: The Hoshida Family Story, University Press of Colorado, →ISBN:
   • The futon are easily aired, and may be carried about readily when moving. 1904, Clarence Ludlow Brownell, The Heart of Japan: Glimpses of Life and Nature Far from the Travellers’ Track in the Land of the Rising Sun, London: Methuen & Co., […], page 54:
   • 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. 1981, The East, page 66:
   • 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, and they make a tolerable mattress, although not springy, and rather apt to be damp and musty. 1891, Eliza Scidmore, Jinrikisha Days in Japan, page 145:
2. A round cushion used for Zen meditation, traditionally made of woven bulrush leaves.
3. 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. 2011 November 18, Ryan Allis, “From Dumpster Diving to Running a $50 Million Company”, in TIME, archived from the original on 30 Nov 2022:

Forms

Deriveds

minifuton

Translations (35)

pt futon (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · fi futon (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · ru футо́н (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · fi futon (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · cmn 布團 /布团 (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · bg футон (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · ja 蒲団 (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · ar فُوتُون يَابَانِيّ (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · ja ふとん (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · eo futono (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · ar فُوتُون (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · bg футон (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · de Futon (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · fr futon (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · cmn 布團 /布团 (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · cmn 坐垫 (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · ja ふとん (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · ar فُوتُون يَابَانِيّ (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · ja 布団 (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · it futon (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · ja 布団 (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · cy ffŵton (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · cmn 床墊 /床垫 (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · de Futon (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · nl futon (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · ko 후톤 (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · mr फुतोन (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · it futon (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · ru футо́н (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · ar فُوتُون (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · cmn 蒲團 /蒲团 (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · it materasso giapponese (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · ja 蒲団 (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame) · ko 후톤 (a Japanese cushion for meditation) · es futón (thin mattress placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame)