faldstool

American  

[fawld-stool] / ˈfɔldˌstul /

noun

1. a chair or seat, originally one capable of being folded, used by a bishop or other prelate when officiating in his own church away from his throne or in a church not his own.

2. a movable folding stool or desk at which worshipers kneel during certain acts of devotion.

3. such a stool placed at the south side of the altar, at which the kings or queens of England kneel at their coronation.

4. a desk at which the litany is said or sung.

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faldstool British  

/ ˈfɔːldˌstuːl /

noun

1. a backless seat, sometimes capable of being folded, used by bishops and certain other prelates

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Etymology

Origin of faldstool

1595–1605; < Medieval Latin faldistolium < West Germanic *faldistōl (compare Old High German faltistuol, late Old English fældestōl, fyldestōl ); see fold ¹, stool; cf. fauteuil

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

faldstool

At a faldstool on the left of the altar, the Queen knelt and prayed alone.

From Time Magazine Archive

And involuntarily her eyes travelled over the room, over the crucifix above the faldstool, the little altar to St. Joseph, the worn books upon his table.

From Helbeck of Bannisdale — Volume II by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.

He set this up in his chamber over a faldstool, and said three Paters and nine Aves before it daily.

From The Forest Lovers by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

If, however, for "footstool" we read "faldstool," His Royal Highness's apparently uncomfortable position becomes intelligible.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 93, Nov. 11, 1887 by Various

Its age has been much discussed, but Viollet-le-Duc dated it to early Merovingian times, and it may in any case be taken as the oldest faldstool in existence.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various