English Explanatory Dictionary

chair

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. 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.
  2. Clipping of chairperson.
  3. The post or position of chairperson.
  4. The seating position of a particular musician in an orchestra.
  5. A cast-iron component used on railways to support bullhead rails and secure them to the sleepers.
  6. One of two possible conformers of cyclohexane rings (the other being boat), shaped roughly like a chair.
  7. Ellipsis of electric chair (“device used for performing execution”).
  8. A distinguished professorship at a university.
  9. A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles, or a two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse; a gig.
  10. The seat or office of a person in authority, such as a judge or bishop.
  11. An assigned position in a beauty salon or barbershop.
verb
  1. To act as chairperson at; to preside over.
  2. To carry in a seated position upon one's shoulders, especially in celebration or victory.
  3. To award a chair to (a winning poet) at a Welsh eisteddfod.
name
  1. Chairperson.
name
  1. The ship of characters Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf of the Gossip Girl series.

Pronunciation

châr /t͡ʃɛə/ /t͡ʃɛː/ /t͡ʃeɹ/ /t͡ʃɜː(ɹ)/ En-uk-chair.ogg /t͡ʃɛɚ/ en-us-chair.ogg [t͡ʃeːɹ] [t͡ʃɛːɹ] /t͡ʃeː/ /t͡ʃeə/ /t͡ʃiə/ /t͡ʃejɾ/ /t͡ʃeːɾ/ /t͡ʃeja/ /t͡ʃæː/ chîr /t͡ʃɪə(ɹ)/

Word forms

chair chairs chur chairing chaired

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρᾱ (hédrā) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair From Middle English chayere, chayer, chayre, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Partially displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses. Doublet of cathedra and chaise.

Related words

stool couch sofa settee love seat bench

Derived words

Adirondack chair almost fall off one's chair armchair arm-chair banana chair barber-chair barber chair Barcelona chair bar chair basket chair bath chair beach chair bedchair birth chair birthing chair boatswain's chair booster chair bosun's chair bowl chair butterfly chair camping chair cantilever chair Cape Cod chair chairback chair bed chairborne chairbound chair conformation chaircover chair days chairdrobe chairfast chairfolk chair force chairful chairholder chairhood chairlady chairless chair lift chairlift chair-lift chairlike chairmaker chairmaking chairman chair mat chairness chairobics chair of state chairoplane chair organ chairperson chair plug chair rail chair seat chair seater chairship chairside chair time
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