The bedside is the space beside a bed. Where the lamp, the glass of water and the book are.
It attaches to nouns freely, giving a bedside table, a bedside lamp and a bedside book. It has a strong association with illness, since sitting at somebody's bedside means keeping company with them while they are ill, and a bedside vigil is the phrase for staying all night. A doctor's bedside manner is the way they speak to patients, and it matters more than most other things about them.
1nounbedsideThe area beside a bed, especially of a sick person.
“She sat at his bedside for three days.”
Middle English
bedsyde
English, today
bedside
From Middle English bedsyde, bedde syde (also as beddes side, beddes syde), equivalent to bed + side. Compare German Bettseite (“bedside”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA