'Comfort' meant 'to strengthen' — from Latin 'fortis' (strong). It softened from courage to cushions.
A state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint; consolation for grief or anxiety.
From Old French 'confort' (comfort, solace, help, strengthening), from Late Latin 'confortāre' (to strengthen greatly), from 'con-' (together, intensive) + 'fortis' (strong, brave, powerful). Comfort is etymologically not about softness or ease but about strength — to comfort someone was originally to make them strong again, to fortify them against despair. The modern sense of physical ease ('comfortable chair') is a later development that obscures
'Comfort' literally means 'to make strong' — from Latin 'con-' (intensive) + 'fortis' (strong). The same root gave us 'fort' (a stronghold), 'force' (strength), 'fortitude' (endurance), and 'effort' (exertion). A comfortable armchair has nothing to do with the word's origin — comfort was originally about fortifying the spirit, not cushioning the body.