pillow

From Middle English pilwe, from Old English pylwe, pylu, pyle (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī (“pillow”), from Latin pulvīnus (“cushion”), derived from pulvis (“dust, powder”) +‎ -īnus (“-ine”), for the filler of a pillow. Doublet of pulvinus.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪləʊ/

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪloʊ/

  • Audio (US)

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• (US, dialectal) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛloʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɪləʊ

pillow (countable and uncountable, plural pillows)

1. A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     And it is a pillow!

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2. (geology) A pillow lava.
3. (engineering) A piece of metal or wood, forming a support to equalize pressure; a brass; a pillow block.
4. (nautical) A block under the inner end of a bowsprit.
5. The socket of a pivot.
6. (uncountable) A kind of plain, coarse fustian.

• → Maori: pera

pillow (third-person singular simple present pillows, present participle pillowing, simple past and past participle pillowed)

1. (transitive) To rest as on a pillow.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 73:

     ...but Lucy was too thoroughly exhausted to awaken. There she lay, her head pillowed upon her arm, like a child that had cried itself to rest; while Francesca bent over her,...

   • 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Canongate 2006, p. 815-6)

     She had pillowed her head on her arm.