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Synonyms

ex cathedra

American  
[eks kuh-thee-druh, kath-i-druh] / ˈɛks kəˈθi drə, ˈkæθ ɪ drə /

adjective

  1. from the seat of authority; with authority: used especially of those pronouncements of the pope that are considered infallible.

ex cathedra British  
/ ɛks kəˈθiːdrə /

adjective

  1. with authority

  2. RC Church (of doctrines of faith or morals) defined by the pope as infallibly true, to be accepted by all Catholics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
ex cathedra Cultural  

  1. Descriptive term for an official pronouncement from the pope. Ex cathedra is Latin for “from the chair.” Roman Catholics believe that the pope speaks infallibly when speaking ex cathedra on questions of faith or morals, such as when Pope Pius XII declared in 1950 that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was physically taken up to heaven after her death.

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Figuratively, any authoritative pronouncement may be called “ex cathedra.”

Etymology

Origin of ex cathedra

First recorded in 1810–20, ex cathedra is from Latin ex cathedrā literally, “from the chair”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.