counterpane

English

Etymology

Corrupted from counterpoint, from the employment of pane (“a shaped figure in a coverlet”).

Noun

counterpane (plural counterpanes)

1. The topmost covering of a bed, often functioning as a blanket.
   • 1915, W.S. Maugham, "Of Human Bondage":

     When he had got a light he saw that she had taken away all her things and the baby's .. and all the things on the washing-stand had been broken, a knife had been drawn cross-ways through the seats of the two chairs, the pillow had been slit open, there were large gashes in the sheets and the counterpane, the looking-glass appeared to have been broken with a hammer.

2. A coverlet.
3. A bedspread.

Translations

topmost covering of a bed

• Italian: copriletto (it) m