Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A quilt, usually with a washable cover, that may be used in place of a bedspread and top sheet.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A quilt or comfortable stuffed with swans' down or eider-down.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun UK, New Zealand A thick, padded quilt used instead of blankets.
  • noun US A cover for a quilt or comforter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a soft quilt usually filled with the down of the eider

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, down, from Old French, alteration of dumet, diminutive of dum, dun, from Old Norse dūnn.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French duvet, from Middle French, from Old French duvet ("down, the feathers of young birds"), alteration of dumet, dumect, from Old French dum, dun ("down, feathers"), from Old Norse dúnn ("down, down feather"), from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (“down”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhūw- (“to smoke, fume, raise dust”). Cognate with Icelandic dúnn ("down"), Danish dun ("down"), German Daune ("down"). More at down.

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Examples

Comments

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  • "And you don't seem to understand

    A shame you seemed an honest man

    And all the fears you hold so dear

    Will turn to whisper in your ear

    And you know what they say might hurt you

    And you know that it means so much

    And you don't even feel a thing"

    January 8, 2007

  • Great word and song.

    November 28, 2008

  • Haha, this reminds me of my friend :)

    She calls it duvet, though I've always known it as duna.

    She's South African, and I've grown up in Australia.

    I suppose, that's the difference.

    She also calls rubbish bins, dust bins.

    And traffic lights, robots.

    The quirks that South African's put into the English language make me giggle, though I love them more each time I hear them.

    June 20, 2010

  • Never heard of the song though...

    June 20, 2010

  • British.

    June 20, 2010