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• Ottoman
  Ottoman

  adjective

  of or relating to the Ottoman Empire.
• ottoman
  ottoman

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

Derived Forms

• Ottomanlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Ottomans
  plural

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

See Examples For:

Ottoman ottoman Ottomans

Sensing opportunity, Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan, arrived at the walls of Constantinople on April 5.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Roman strategy was therefore clear: Cling on long enough for Ottoman resolve to falter, some discontented portion of Mehmed’s empire to revolt or aid from Christian Europe to arrive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Before the invasion, Turkish Cypriots made up around a fifth of the population of the former Ottoman and British colony where there had been years of inter-ethnic tension and violence.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

From Ottoman warriors in suits of armour to a marble palace and fighter jets, US President Donald Trump got the kind of welcome he loves in Turkey on Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026

With Turkey’s collapse, the seven-century-old Turkish Ottoman Empire vanished into history.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

A chair he designed is known as the Platner chair and still sells, with its ottoman, for as much as $18,000.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

We would also lose one of TV’s most unforgettable opening sequences highlighted by Van Dyke’s Rob Petrie tumbling over an ottoman, then springing to his feet with a grin.

From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025

They also surprised me with a surfing shirt that just says “California” that’s on the ottoman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2024

The stool or ottoman comes with four different cushions resembling giant, fruit-toned softballs that can be swapped out.

From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2024

Axel pulls both feet up onto the ottoman.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

For thousands of years, the ancient city of Sardis in western Turkey changed hands as Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans rose and fell.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026

America’s allies worry other players could try to replicate Iran’s example, like empires of the 17th century, when China’s Qing dynasty, the Ottomans and Portuguese taxed passing vessels.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026

Ottomans provide storage not only for Hedda’s guns but also for her secrets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026

"Stanley came to appreciate the social and the spiritual benefits Islam provided the Ottomans," Gilham said.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026

But they failed to make their government popular, and when in 1715 the Ottomans with a large and well-disciplined army set themselves to recover the Morea, the Venetians were left without support from the Greeks.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various