The Etymology of Cushion
Cushion entered English around 1300 from Old French coissin, a stuffed sack used to soften a wooden bench or saddle. The Old French form descends from Vulgar Latin *coxinum, a derivative of Latin coxa meaning hip or thigh — the cushion was, quite literally, a hip-rest. Medieval cushions were luxury items: embroidered, tasselled, and listed alongside tapestries in noble inventories. Only the wealthy sat on padded surfaces; everyone else made do with wooden benches or rushes on the floor. The word kept its softening sense as it spread: French coussin, Italian cuscino, Spanish cojín all preserve the same root. By the 19th century mass production made cushions ordinary household objects, and the word picked up figurative uses — a cushion of air, a cushion against losses — where it names anything that absorbs impact. The hip-bone etymology survives in anatomy: coxa is still the technical term for the hip joint.