[dav-uh
n-pawrt, -pohrt] 
| 1. | a large sofa, often one convertible into a bed. |
| 2. | Chiefly British. a small writing desk. |
[dav-uhn-pawrt, -pohrt] | 1. | John, 1597–1670, Puritan clergyman: one of the founders of New Haven. |
| 2. | a city in E Iowa, on the Mississippi River. 103,264. |
| dav·en·port (dāv'ən-pôrt', -pōrt') n.
[From obsolete davenport, a small writing desk, probably from the name of the manufacturer.] |
| Dav·en·port (dāv'ĭn-pôrt', -pōrt') A city of eastern Iowa on the Mississippi River opposite Moline and Rock Island, Illinois. It grew rapidly after the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi was completed in 1856. Population: 99,500. |
| Davenport, John 1597-1670. English Puritan who fled to America in 1637 and helped found a colony at New Haven, Connecticut. |
davenport
in modern usage, a large upholstered settee, but in the 18th century a compact desk having deep drawers on the right side and dummy drawer fronts on the left side. The sloping top of the davenport concealed a fitted well, the front of which protruded beyond the drawers and was supported by a pair of columns on a base, or plinth. The back of the writing area was normally flat and might be protected on three sides by a pierced brass gallery.
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