Etymologically
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cathedra

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈka.tʰɛ.dra], [kaˈtʰɛd.ra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.te.dra], [kaˈtɛd.ra][1]

Forms

cathedra f (genitive cathedrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra, “seat”), from κατά (katá, “down”) and ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”).[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Horace first,[4] who tells a critic to go and whine among the easy chairs of his female pupils.[2] Köbler dates Horace 65–8 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was an armchair or easy chair, used especially by women, and a sedan chair.[2][5] It was also the chair of a teacher or professor.[5][6][7]

In Christian Latin it became the chair of a bishop, his see and dignity, and the cathedral church itself; it was also a royal throne.[8] The phrase ecclesia cathedrālis “church of the bishop's seat” gave English cathedral.[7] It survives in Italian cattedra, and through Old French chaiere it gave English chair in the early 13th century and French chaise, whence English chaise.[1][7]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of easy chairs.[2][4]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of a sedan chair.[2][4]
  • Late Latin – It is used of a bishop's see.[8]
  • early 13th century – English chair is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An armchair, easy chair.[2]
  2. A sedan chair.[2]
  3. A teacher's chair.[5][6]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A bishop's chair; a see; a cathedral.[8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A royal throne.[8]

Word family

  • cathedralicius
  • cathedrālis
  • cathedrārius
  • cathedrātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill