A diminutive form meaning 'small bed' or 'pallet,' this word describes the portable beds used by ordinary people or for transporting the sick. Unlike elaborate furniture, these were simple mats or stretchers that could be easily carried. Luke's Gospel and Acts use this word in healing narratives: the paralytic whose friends lowered him through the roof (Luke 5:19, 24) and the sick laid in the streets hoping Peter's shadow would fall on them (Acts 5:15). The word emphasizes both the humble circumstances of those healed and the physical reality of their restoration—they could pick up and carry what had carried them.