thumb|A chaise longue sofa
thumb|An 18th-century [[rococo chaise longue]]
thumb|A late 19th-century chaise longue
A chaise longue (; ; ) is an upholstered sofa in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs of the sitter.
In modern French, the term chaise longue refers to any long sitting chair, such as a deckchair.
In English, the term chaise longue is sometimes written as chaise lounge and pronounced , a folk etymology replacement of part of the original French term with the unrelated English word lounge. When English speakers imported a new kind of sofa from France in the late 1700s, they transformed the name 'chaise longue' ("long chair") into 'chaise lounge'—since 'lounge' is an English word spelled with the same letters and lounging is something one can do on a "chaise longue." This variant has been documented in British texts since at least 1811 and in American texts since 1824.
- (French: 'Broken duchess'): this word is used when the chaise longue is divided into two parts: the chair and a long footstool, or two chairs with a stool in between them. The origin of the name is unknown.
- : a récamier has two raised ends and nothing on the long sides. It is sometimes associated with French Empire (neo-classical) style. It is named after French society hostess Madame Récamier (1777–1849), who posed elegantly on a couch of this kind for a portrait painted in 1800 by Jacques-Louis David. The shape of the récamier is similar to a traditional (boat bed) but made for the drawing room, not the bedroom.
Today, psychoanalysts invite clients to recline on couches in their offices during psychotherapy and may use chaises longues rather than more conventional styles of couches out of tradition. The chaise longue is commonly used as visual shorthand to suggest a generic psychotherapist's office in cartoons and other works.
See also
<!-- let's keep this list alphabetised. -->
- Couch
- Eames Lounge Chair
- Fainting couch
- Sunlounger