late Old English beddinge "materials of a bed, bed covering," from bed (n.). The meaning "bottom layer of anything" is from c. 1400.

Old English beddian "to provide with a bed or lodgings," from bed (n.). From c. 1300 as "to go to bed," also "to copulate with, to go to bed with;" 1440 as "to lay out (land) in plots or beds." Related: Bedded; bedding.

"bedding rolled up in a bundle," 1905, from bed (n.) + roll (n.). There is a citation of an identical word from 1650s in the sense "a list of women for sleeping with."

1883, "rough grass or weeds, refuse of crops suitable for bedding for animals," from rough (adj.) + -age. In nutritional science, the meaning "coarse, bulky food" is attested by 1927.

c. 1300, "a bed," also "bed-like vehicle carried on men's shoulders" (early 14c.), from Anglo-French litere "portable bed," Old French litiere "litter, stretcher, bier; straw, bedding" (12c.), from Medieval Latin lectaria "litter," from Latin lectus "bed, lounge, sofa, dining-couch," from PIE *legh-to-, suffixed form of root *legh- "to lie down, lay."

Altered in French by influence of lit "bed." The meaning was extended early 15c. to "straw used for bedding" (this sense is early 14c. in Anglo-French) and by late 15c. to "offspring of an animal at one birth" (that is, in one bed). Litter by 19c. had come to mean both the straw bedding and the animal waste in it after use. The sense of "scattered oddments, disorderly debris" is first attested 1730 and probably is from litter (v.) "provide with bedding" (late 14c.) and sense extended from the image of strewing straw.

1540s, of animals, "process of bringing forth young in a single birth," verbal noun from present participle of litter (v.). Meaning "act of furnishing with bedding" is from c. 1600. That of "act of dropping disordered waste matter" is from 1900.

late 14c., "provide with bedding," from litter (n.). Meaning "bring forth, give birth to" (of animals or, contemptuously, of humans) is from late 15c. Meaning "to strew with objects" is from 1713. Transitive sense of "to scatter in a disorderly way" is from 1731. Related: Littered; littering.

late 14c., "to clear of lice," from louse (n.). Compare delouse. Related: Loused; lousing. To louse up "ruin, botch" first attested 1934, from a literal sense (in reference to bedding), from 1931.

also bed-bug, "blood-sucking insect that infests beds and bedding," 1772, from bed (n.) + bug (n.).

[The bed bug] is supposed to have been first introduced to this country in the fir timber that was brought over to rebuild London after it had suffered by the great fire; for it is generally said that Bugs were not known in England before that time, and many of them were found almost immediately afterwards in the new-built houses. [the Rev. W. Bingley, "Animal Biography; or Anecdotes of the Lives, Manners, and Economy of the Animal Creation," London, 1803]

c. 1600, "delicately woven cotton fabric," from French mousseline (17c.), from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo, Italian name of Mosul, city in northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) where muslin was made. Like many fabric names, it has changed meaning over the years, in this case from luxurious to commonplace. In 13c. French, mosulin meant "cloth of silk and gold." The meaning "everyday cotton fabric for shirts, bedding, etc." is first attested 1872 in American English.