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• Ottoman
  Ottoman

  adjective

  of or relating to the Ottoman Empire.
• ottoman
  ottoman

  noun

Ottoman

American  

[ot-uh-muhn] / ˈɒt ə mən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the Ottoman Empire.

2. of or relating to the lands, peoples, and possessions of the Ottoman Empire.

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noun

Ottomans plural

1. a Turk.

2. a Turk of the family or tribe of Osman.

3. (lowercase) a cushioned footstool.

4. (lowercase) a low cushioned seat without back or arms.

5. (lowercase) a kind of divan or sofa, with or without a back.

6. (lowercase) a corded silk or rayon fabric with large cotton cord for filling.

ottoman ¹ British  

/ ˈɒtəmən /

noun

1. 1. a low padded seat, usually armless, sometimes in the form of a chest

   2. a cushioned footstool

2. a corded fabric

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Ottoman ² British  

/ ˈɒtəmən /

adjective

1. history of or relating to the Ottomans or the Ottoman Empire

2. denoting or relating to the Turkish language

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noun

1. a member of a Turkish people who invaded the Near East in the late 13th century

Other Word Forms

• Ottomanlike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Ottoman

1575–85; < French < Italian ottomano, after the founder of the empire ( Arabic ʿuthmān ); Ottoman defs. 5, 6, 7, 8 < French ottomane (feminine)

Explanation

Your dad's favorite cushioned spot to rest his feet can be referred to as an ottoman — it's also known as a hassock or a footstool. This word may conjure anything from a vast empire to a footstool — it's all the same word, ultimately from the Arabic personal name Othman (which loses a lot, soundwise, in translation). The puffy footstools known as ottomans were allegedly originally a component of said empire's comforts.

Example Sentences

Politically independent, he is a descendant of the Crimean Tatars who once dominated the neighborhood alongside Albanians and Bosnians and others from “the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

Pretzel’s lore intensified amid the Siege of Vienna in 1529, when the Ottoman Empire attempted to capture the city by digging extensive lines of trenches.

From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026

The current record is held by a Ottoman astrolabe made for Sultan Bayezid II, which was a much smaller piece sold in 2014 for just under £1m.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026

The tiles were on a panel by the tomb of Ottoman Sultan Selim II in the garden of the Hagia Sophia.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

Of the 400,000 Ottoman Christians in Smyrna before the fire, 190,000 were unaccounted for by October 1.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides