What connects pillows to dust? Let’s find out.

A pillow [ˈpɪ.ləʊ / ˈpɪ.loʊ] is a soft cushion used to support the head in bed, or any similar head support used for sleep, such as a neck pillow, and to pillow means to rest as on a pillow.

It comes from Middle English pilwe (a cushion, pillow, pad), from Old English pyle (pillow), from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī (pillow, cushion, bolster), from Latin pulvīnus (cusion, pillow, bolster, seat of honour) from pulvis (dust, powder, ashes, an arena, toil, effort), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (flour, dust) or *pelh₁- (chaff, to swing) [source].

Words from the same Latin roots include polvere (dust, powder) in Italian, pulver (powder) and peluw (a long, narrow pillow) in Dutch, Pulver (powder, money) in German, pulveri (powder) in Finnish, pavesa (spark) in Spanish, pylor (dust, powder) in Welsh, and poussière (dust, speck of dust) in French [source].

Words from the PIE root *pel- (flour, dust) include puches (porridge) in Spanish, poltiglia (mush, pulp, slime, slush, mire) in Italian, pył (dust) in Polish, and poultice, polenta, pollen and possibly spelt in English [source].

Words from the PIE root *pelh₁- (chaff) include полова (polova – chaff) in Russian, pleva (chaff) in Czech, paille (straw) in French, paja (straw) in Spanish, pagliaio (haystack) in Italian, pallet in English [source].

To me, pillows are the rectangular cushioned things you have on your bed. However, it seems that some people also use pillows for the square cushioned things you might have on a chair or sofa / couch. To me , they are cushions. How about you?

Incidentally, the word cushion comes from Middle English quysshyn, from later Old French coissin, from Vulgar Latin *coxīnus (seat pad), from Latin coxa (hip, thigh). The -īnus suffix on *coxīnus is possibly modelled on pulvīnus (pillow) [source].

Related words include coscia (thigh, leg) in Italian, cuisse (thigh, segment) in French, coxa (thigh) in Portuguese, coes (leg, shank) in Welsh, and cos (foot, leg) in Irish [source].