"pillow" in seven languages
Meaningpillow
Spanish
/almoˈada/
fem.other source · Andalusian Arabic al-muḫádda, from ḫadd 'cheek'
French
/ɔʁeje/
masc.other source · derived from oreille 'ear' (Latin AURICULAM)
Italian
/kuʃˈʃino/
masc.borrowed · Old French coissin
Also guanciale, from guancia 'cheek' — the same idea as the Arabic.
Portuguese
/tɾaveˈsejɾu/
masc.other source · Portuguese travesso 'crosswise' (Latin TRANSVERSUM)
Romanian
/ˈpernə/
fem.other source · Slavic, from a word for 'feather' (cf. Old Church Slavonic pero)
Catalan
/kuˈʃi/
masc.inherited
English
/ˈpɪloʊ/
other source · Old English pyle (an early loan from Latin PULVĪNUM)
The Latin ancestor
*COXĪNUM‘cushion (from COXA 'hip')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The pillow is named after the body part it holds: the cheek in Arabic (and Italian guanciale), the ear in French, the hip for the cushion.
English relatives: cushion (via French coussin)