the.com/throw pillow

means A small decorative cushion placed on furniture for comfort or style, typically more handled and rearranged than actually sat against.

from Straightforward compound English: 'throw' in the old sense of something tossed or flung about casually, plus 'pillow' from Old English 'pyle,' itself borrowed from Latin 'pulvinus' meaning cushion. The 'throw' likely nods to how these small cushions are casually tossed onto a sofa or bed for decoration, rather than slept on like a proper pillow — a 19th-to-20th-century furnishing term marking the cushion's decorative, movable status rather than any real etymological drama.