Ottoman

[ot-uh-muhn]

adjective

1. of or relating to the Ottoman Empire.

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

noun

plural

Ottomans 

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

/ 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

Ottoman

²

/ ˈɒtəmən /

adjective

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

2. denoting or relating to the Turkish language

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• Ottomanlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ottoman¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ottoman¹

C17: from French ottomane, feminine of _Ottoman

Origin of ottoman²

C17: from French, via Medieval Latin, from Arabic Othmāni Turkish, from Turkish Othman _{Osman I}

Example Sentences

“We would like to be civil servants, soldiers, prosecutors…just like we were in Ottoman times.”

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They lived in Ottoman Salonica, a melting-pot of Greeks, Turks, Jews, Albanians and cosmopolitan traders from all over Europe.

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It became a mosque under the Ottoman Empire and a museum under the Republic of Turkey.

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A Jewish homeland in backwaters of the Ottoman empire seemed unattainable, and pressing domestic concerns like slavery and temperance took precedence.

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The nation’s multilayered historical background has been variously stamped by a basic Arabic heritage, ineradicable remnants of protracted Ottoman Turkish rule and the long arm of the British colonial empire.

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