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seat

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:SEAT

English

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishsete,fromOld Englishsǣte,possibly from (or simply cognate with)Old Norsesæti(“seat”),both fromProto-Germanic*sētiją(“seat”),fromProto-Indo-European*sed-(“to sit”);compareOld Englishset(“seat”).

Sense 2( “location or site” ) is probably derived fromOld Englishsǣte(“house”),which is related toOld High Germansāza(“sedan, seat, domicile”).

cognates

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key):/siːt/
  • Audio(US):(file)
  • Rhymes:-iːt
  • Hyphenation:seat

Noun

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seat(pluralseats)

An automobileseat
  1. Something to be sat upon.
    1. Aplacein which to sit.
      There are two hundredseatsin this classroom.
      • 1897December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill,chapter VIII, inThe Celebrity: An Episode,New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company;London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:
        The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…].Our table in the dining-room became again the abode of scintillating wit and caustic repartee, Farrar bracing up to his old standard, and the demand forseatsin the vicinity rose to an animated competition.
      • 2019October, “South Wales open access bid”, inModern Railways,page15:
        […]Grand Union proposes making aseatpart of the price of a ticket, with 50% refunds for those travelling for longer than 30 minutes unable to obtain aseat.
    2. Thehorizontalportion of achairor otherfurnituredesigned for sitting.
      He sat on the arm of the chair rather than theseat,which always annoyed his mother.
      theseatof a saddle
    3. A piece of furniture made for sitting, such as achair,stool,orbench;anyimprovisedplace for sitting.
      She pulled theseatfrom under the table to allow him to sit down.
      1. (aviation,military,slang)Anejection seat.
        Hey, fighter boy, our radar's putting out enough energy to launch yourseatfrom this distance!
    4. Thepartof an object or individual (usually thebuttocks) directly involved in sitting.
      Instead of saying "sit down", she said "place yourseaton this chair ".
    5. The part of a piece ofclothing(usuallypantsortrousers) covering the buttocks.
      • 1929,Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,When the World Screamed‎[1]:
        Several pressmen have nearly lost their lives, to say nothing of theseatsof their trousers, from these creatures.
      • 2006July 20, Tom Armstrong,Marvin(comic):
        I love these new biker pants I bought! There's padding in theseatto protect my rear end.
      Theseatof these trousers is almost worn through.
    6. (engineering)A part or surface on which another part or surface rests.
      Theseatof the valve had become corroded.
  3. A location or site.
    1. (figuratively)Amembershipin an organization, particularly a representative body.
      Our neighbor has aseatat the stock exchange and in congress.
    2. Thelocationof a governing body.
      Washington D.C. is theseatof the U.S. government.
      • 1963,Henry G. Schwarz,Policies and Administration of Minority Areas in Northwest China and Inner Mongolia, 1949-1959‎[2],volume 2,→OCLC,page338:
        The K'o-tzu-lo-su Kirghiz chou bordered on the K'o-shih chuan-ch'ü and itsseatat A-t'u-shih was only twenty-five kilometers from K'o-shih shih.
      • 2013August 3, “The machine of a new soul”,inThe Economist,volume408,number8847:
        But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure. Yet this is the level of organisation that does the actual thinking—and is, presumably, theseatof consciousness.
    3. (certain Commonwealth countries)Anelectoral district,especially for a national legislature.
    4. A temporary residence, such as a country home or a hunting lodge.
      • 1806,William Cobbett,The Parliamentary History of England:
        A man of fortune, who lives in London, may, in plays, operas, routs, assemblies, French cookery, French sauces, and French wines, spend as much yearly, as he could do, were he to live in the most hospitable manner at hisseatin the country.
    5. The place occupied by anything, or where any person, thing or quality is situated or resides; asite.
    6. (law,England and Wales)One of aseriesofdepartmentalplacementsgivento atraineesolicitor as part of theirtrainingcontract.
    7. (historical)Any of severalautonomousregionsin themedievalKingdom of Hungary.
  4. The starting point of afire.
  5. Posture,or way of sitting, onhorseback.
    • 1876,George Eliot[pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter III, inDaniel Deronda,volume(please specify |volume=I to IV),Edinburgh, London:William Blackwood and Sons,→OCLC:
      She had so good aseatand hand she might be trusted with any mount.
    • 1887,Harriet W. Daly,Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia,page85:
      George was a perfect picture on horseback; he had a light, firmseat,and seemed as if he were a part of his horse, and was only happy when away in the saddle for hours together, mustering cattle or tracking a missing horse.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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membership in a representative body
location of a governing body
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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seat(third-person singular simple presentseats,present participleseating,simple past and past participleseated)

  1. (transitive)To put an object into a place where it will rest; to fix; to set firm.
    Be sure toseatthe gasket properly before attaching the cover.
    • 1667,John Milton,“Book VI”, inParadise Lost.[…],London:[…][Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC;republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…],London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
      From their foundations, loosening to and fro, / They plucked theseatedhills.
    • 1897December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill,chapter IV, inThe Celebrity: An Episode,New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company;London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:
      One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he wasseatedon a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
  2. (transitive)To provide with a place to sit.
    This classroomseatstwo hundred students.
    The waiterseatedus and asked what we would like to drink.
    • 1712,John Arbuthnot,An Essay Concerning the Effects of Air on Human Bodies:
      The guests were no soonerseatedbut they entered into a warm debate.
    • 1887,Elizabeth Cady Stanton,History of Woman Suffrage:
      He used toseatyou on the piano and then, with vehement gestures and pirouettings, would argue the case. Not one word of the speech did you understand.
    • 1960December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, inTrains Illustrated,page755:
      The older Jungfrau locomotives are of 330 h.p. only, but can push two coachesseatinga total of 80 passengers up the 1 in 4 at 4 m.p.h.
  3. (transitive)To request or direct one or more persons to sit.
    Pleaseseatthe audience after the anthem and then introduce the first speaker.
  4. (transitive,legislature)To recognize the standing of a person or persons by providing them with one or more seats which would allow them to participate fully in a meeting or session.
    Only half the delegates from the state wereseatedat the convention because the state held its primary too early.
    You have to be a member to beseatedat the meeting. Guests are welcome to sit in the visitors section.
  5. (transitive)To assign the seats of.
    toseata church
  6. (transitive)To cause to occupy a post, site, or situation; to station; to establish; to fix; to settle.
  7. (obsolete,intransitive)Torest;tolie down.
  8. To settle; to plant with inhabitants.
    toseata country
    • 1747,William Stith,The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia:
      The Plantations, for the most Part, are high and pleasantlyseated
  9. (transitive)To put a seat or bottom in.
    toseata chair

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Anagrams

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Romansch

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromLatinseptem,fromProto-Indo-European*septḿ̥.

Number

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seat

  1. (Sutsilvan)seven
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