Carpet is a textile floor covering, consisting of a "hairy" top layer attached to the base. Tapestry piles are generally made of wool or man-made fibers such as polypropylene, and usually consist of tufts that are often heated to maintain their structure.

The term "carpet" itself comes from the word in ancient Italian carpita, "carpire" which means rounding. The word carpet is usually used also to refer to tapestries, where Persian tapestries were introduced after the opening of trade routes with western Europe in the 17th century. In the history of carpets or rugs used also to refer to table coverings and walls, because carpets are not commonly used to cover floors in Europe until the 18th century.

Character carpets are carpets that are designed with patterns of animated characters or other objects.