A Carpet is a kind of floor covering made from strips of material attached to a foundation by tufts. It is generally an indoor item, though there are some outdoor varieties.
Carpets are made from polyester fibers, wool, or nylon — most often, these soft materials are loops or strings that form the carpet's "pile," and are attached to a solid backing. A carpet can be very densely woven and flat, or it can be tufted and thick.
Carpets may also have designs on them, whether the same pattern throughout the entire carpet or a pattern in one part of the carpet (like an oval) with a different design in another part (like a checkerboard). The pile of the carpet is usually cut so that it stands up on the lower side and has a looped or soft look on the upper.
Carpets are sometimes used to cover bare floors, but often they are sold as items in their own right, with an area rug serving as an individual "carpet" to sit or stand on. A carpet is made with a cotton backing and may be woven with many different yarns.
Carpet comes from Middle English carpite, one of the goods which were ordered by Richard II to be purchased for the Royal Wardrobe in 1383 (Carpets, like a tapestry, are thought to have existed in some forms from many centuries before this date). The word is of Common Indo-European origin: the original root is *"ker"- "to cut", from which also come Latin "carpere" (meaning "to carve"), and Greek χαρπίζω (/khar-pizo/ - "to pluck").
When Europeans first saw carpets in the Near East, they thought them to be thick mats of twisted threads. Their original word for the new invention was "paul", meaning twisted woven cloth (which is how one might expect carpet to derive from). The Biblical land of 'Shah' or 'Sheba' has been said to produce the most beautiful carpets. Its carpets are mentioned in ancient sources, including Quran and Hadiths - originally sheep wool is used as a carpet backing.