English
chair
Chair comes from Old French chaiere, from Latin cathedra ‘seat’, from Greek καθέδρα, from κατά ‘down’ + ἕδρα ‘seat’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedreh₂reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hédrāreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἕδραhédra‘seat’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκᾰθέδρᾱkăthédrā‘seat’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcathedra‘seat’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chaiere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chayere‘a litter or palanquin’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591chair
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedreh₂reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hédrāreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἕδραhédra‘seat’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκᾰθέδρᾱkăthédrā‘seat’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcathedra‘seat’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chaiere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chayere‘a litter or palanquin’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591chair
Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “Enter Mortimer, brought in a Chayre, and Iaylors.”
The story
Partially displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’
set, president, size, sell, sit, sitting, seat, method, session, resident, settle, assess, nest, possess, siege, saddle, exodus, reside, subsidy, niche, sedan, residue, residual, sediment, nye, insidious, sedentary, dissident, beset, prasad, cathode, soot, sedative, setter, obsess, anode, sedate, presidio, sate, sessile, 94 more
through Ancient Greek ἕδρα ‘seat, abode, throne’
through Latin cathedra ‘seat’
through Old French chaiere
Today it means
noun An item of furniture used to sit on or in, comprising a seat, legs or wheels, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by one person.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / chair