Etymologically
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session

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈseʃ.ᵊn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sessioun,[2] borrowed from Old French session (“act or state of sitting; assembly”) or directly from Latin sessiō (“act of sitting; a seat; a session”) (accusative sessiōnem),[2][3][4] a noun of action from the past participle of sedēre (“to sit”),[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”).[2] It is related to sit, seat, sessile and sediment.[5][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A periodical sitting of a court: the late 14th century in Etymonline,[2] and in Hoad the 14th century, as a sitting together for conference, especially a judicial sitting.[3] The OED's first example of the sitting of a court or council is from 1444.[7]

Semantic evolution

The time or term during which a legislature meets daily for business is from the 1550s,[2] or 1553 in the OED.[7] The literal classical sense, the act of sitting, is rare in English[2] except in theology, of Christ's sitting at the right hand of God, from the early 15th century[2] or about 1557 in the OED.[7] The more general “period set aside for an activity” is from 1920, in bull session, probably extended from quarter sessions courts.[2] A recording session in a studio is from 1927.[2] In Scotland the session or kirk session is the governing body of elders of a parish.[8]

Timeline

  • late 14th century – a sitting of a court.[2]
  • 1444 – a sitting of a council.[7]
  • 1553 – a series of sittings.[7]
  • c. 1557 – Christ's sitting at God's right hand.[7]
  • 1920 – bull session.[2]
  • 1927 – a recording session.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A meeting, or series of meetings, of a legislature, court or council.
  2. The term during which such meetings are held.
  3. The part of a year or day when a school holds classes.
  4. A period devoted to an activity: a recording session.
  5. In Presbyterian churches, the governing body of a congregation.

Word family

  • sessional
  • sessionally
  • intersession
  • presession
  • special session
  • poster session
  • skull session
  • petty sessions
  • sit
  • seat
  • sessile
  • sediment
  • assess
  • obsess
  • possess

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)