Rug or Carpet? When Does a Rug Get Large Enough to be Called a Carpet?

One of the problems with the English language is that you get words that mean more than one thing, and others that overlap or are interchangeable. With rug and carpet, even native English speakers probably get confused, as there is no strict definition of either rug or carpet.

Not even absolute size will tell you whether it is a rug or a carpet. Rugs and carpets are both floor coverings made from the same range of materials, such as wool, acrylic or nylon. Both can be patterned or plain, short pile or shaggy, or natural or synthetic. Whether or not it is most likely to be called a rug or a carpet depends most not just on size, but on relative size. Size, that is relative to the size of the room in which it is set

It is probably true to say that everyone would call a 2' x 4' rug a rug. It would look small in almost any room. It is when you get up to the larger sizes, such as 12' x 18 ' that there could be an overlap in how people describe this floor covering. In a 13' x 20' room it would probably be called a carpet, while in a very large room, say 30' x 50', that carpet may be called a rug. Safer, perhaps to call a larger rug a rug carpet just to cover both options.

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Really though, it does not matter whether you call your rug a carpet, or your carpet a rug. Most come in a range of sizes, and the pictures above (courtesy of CSN rugs) are of some Dalyn rugs which range from 2' x 4 ' right up to 12' x 18'. So really, some are rugs and some might be carpets; rug carpets may be a good idea.

Confused still?