sedes

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈseː.deːs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.des]^[1]

Forms

sēdēs f (genitive sēdis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It belongs with sedeō “to sit”, inherited from Proto-Italic *sēd-(i-) (“seat”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sēd- (“seat”).^[2] De Vaan takes it as probably built on the PIE root noun, or with Schrijver as an old stem in *-h₁-.^[2] Its long vowel matches Proto-Germanic *sētiją (“seat”), though the exact common form is unclear.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus.^[2] Köbler dates his career to before 200 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a place to sit or something to sit on, a seat or throne; in medicine it was the anus.^[4] From this it meant the place where a person or group lives, a home, and in a wider sense one's country or town, the dwelling of a god, a temple, and the resting place of the dead.^[4] Döderlein distinguishes sēdēs, simply a place to sit, from sedīle and sella, seats made for the purpose.^[5]

In Christian Latin it was an episcopal see, and Sēdēs Apostolica was the Holy See of Rome; it also meant the dignity of an abbot.^[6] Old French see gave English see “a bishop's seat”.^[1] The Appendix Probi corrects the nominative sedis to sedes.^[7]

Timeline

• before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the seats under a plane tree.^[8][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the anus.^[4][3]
• Late Latin – Sēdēs Apostolica is the Holy See of Rome.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A seat, chair, throne.^[4]
2. (medicine) The anus.^[4]
3. A dwelling, home; one's country or town.^[4]
4. The dwelling of a god, a temple.^[4]
5. The resting place of the dead, a grave.^[4]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An episcopal see, Sēdēs Apostolica, the Holy See.^[6]

Word family

• sēdēcula

Related words

• sedeō
• sella
• sedīle
• English see
• English sediment
• English sit

Usage notes

Isidore says seats were named sēdēs because the early Romans did not recline at meals but sat.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).