From Latin 'carpere' (to pluck, card wool) — literally 'plucked cloth,' originally a tablecloth, not a floor covering.
A floor covering made from thick woven fabric.
From Old French carpite (heavy decorated fabric), from Old Italian carpita (a kind of thick cloth), from carpire (to pluck, to card wool), from Latin carpere (to pluck, to gather, to pick), from PIE *kerp- (to harvest, to pluck, to gather). A carpet is literally plucked fabric — cloth made from plucked or carded wool. The same PIE root *kerp- produced harvest (from Proto-Germanic *harbistaz, the plucking season), and Latin carpere also produced excerpt (plucked out), and scarce (originally meaning sparingly plucked). The phrase on the carpet — meaning under
'Carpet' originally did not mean a floor covering — in medieval English, it was a thick tablecloth or wall hanging. The shift to 'floor covering' occurred in the 15th century. And 'carpe diem' (seize the day) uses the same Latin 'carpere' (to pluck). When you 'seize the day,' you pluck it like a flower; when you walk on a carpet, you walk on plucked wool.