counterpane

[koun-ter-peyn]

noun

Older Use.

1. a quilt or coverlet for a bed; bedspread.

counterpane

/ ˈkaʊntəˌpeɪn /

noun

1. another word for bedspread

Other Word Forms

• counterpaned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of counterpane¹

1425–75; counter- + pane (in obsolete sense bedspread); replacing late Middle English counterpoynte < Middle French contre-pointe quilt, alteration (by association with contre- counter- ) of cou ( s ) tepointe, coitepointe < Latin culcita puncta pricked pillow. See quilt, point

Word History and Origins

Origin of counterpane¹

C17: from obsolete counterpoint (influenced by pane coverlet), changed from Old French coutepointe quilt, from Medieval Latin culcita puncta quilted mattress

Example Sentences

Then she jumped down from the sill, onto the bed, where she wrapped herself into a curl of fur and went back to sleep, a circle of cat upon the old counterpane.

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But Queenie’s bed was empty and unruffled, the counterpane smooth and straight.

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Farder Coram leaned forward and gently pulled back the counterpane, and there protruding from Jacob’s shoulder was the feathered end of an arrow in a mass of clotted blood.

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There were of course all sorts of colored things in the bedroom; the colored counterpane on the bed, the wallpaper, the sunlight from the window, and Mother’s pretty, pale blue dressing jacket.

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According to his sister-in-law Alice, “sometimes his hand moves over the counterpane as if writing.”

Read more on The New Yorker

Related Words

• bedspread 
• blanket 
• comforter