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• sedan
  sedan

  noun

  an enclosed automobile body having two or four doors and seating four or more persons on two full-width seats.
• Sedan
  Sedan

  noun

  a city in NE France, on the Meuse River: defeat and capture of Napoleon III 1870.

sedan

¹ American  

[si-dan] / sɪˈdæn /

noun

• sedans
  plural

1. an enclosed automobile body having two or four doors and seating four or more persons on two full-width seats.

2. sedan chair.

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Sedan ² American  

[si-dan, suh-dahn] / sɪˈdæn, səˈdɑ̃ /

noun

1. a city in NE France, on the Meuse River: defeat and capture of Napoleon III 1870.

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sedan ¹ British  

/ sɪˈdæn /

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): saloon.  a closed two-door or four-door car with four to six seats

2. short for sedan chair

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Sedan ² British  

/ sədɑ̃, sɪˈdæn /

noun

1. a town in NE France, on the River Meuse: passed to France in 1642; a Protestant stronghold (16th–17th centuries); scene of a French defeat (1870) during the Franco-Prussian War and of a battle (1940) in World War II, which began the German invasion of France. Pop: 20 548 (1999)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sedans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sedan

First recorded in 1625–35; of obscure origin

Explanation

A sedan is a car that seats at least four people. You might dream of getting a sports car when you're 16, but it's more likely that your parents will loan you the keys to their sedan. In the 17th century, a sedan was "a covered chair on poles," a fancy way for one person to ride, carried by at least four people. Today's sedan seats four, and it's powered by gasoline or electricity. Since about 1912, the word sedan has been used most often for talking about an automobile. The word is rooted in the Latin sedere, "sit."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sedan Sedan sedans

He brought out the game-changing Model 3 sedan, quickly opened a Chinese factory and delivered consistent profits quarter after quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

Its portfolio of vehicles includes the Lucid Air, a luxury sedan that has won accolades but faced slowing sales, and the Lucid Gravity, an SUV released in late 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Lucas Scott, a Biddeford resident, said the agents were shouting as they surrounded a white sedan.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

He didn’t notice the gray Acura sedan that tailed him through rush-hour traffic on Sunset Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026

They were quickly named the Truck of Many Colors and Staff Car, the latter a battered olive drab army surplus sedan.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Appeared in the February 14, 2026, print edition as 'America Fell Out of Love With the Sedan Detroit wants to bring it back'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

“If we break it, we have no water. Period,” said Jack Warren, the mayor of Sedan, Kansas, a county seat about 100 miles southeast of Wichita and the largest customer of the water district.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023

If they could bear him back to the team bus on a Sedan chair, they just might have.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2023

Cobain’s 1965 “Baby Blue” Dodge Dart 170 Sedan also fetched $375,000.

From Washington Times ● May 22, 2022

First Division reached the hills overlooking Sedan, then moved aside to allow the French Army the honor of capturing the city, the site of a French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Yet Ford has been increasingly interested in sedans, a vehicle category that Detroit automakers have ceded to foreign competitors such as Toyota and Honda.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

International sanctions block the regime’s purchase of high-end items, from Rolex watches to Mercedes-Maybach sedans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said the company may get back into sedans, which Detroit automakers ceded almost entirely to foreign rivals over the past decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

China’s consumer future may not be led only by refrigerators and sedans.

From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026

The worst were the cheap ones, Volkswagens, low-end Japanese sedans.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Related Words

• auto
• automobile
• bus
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• limousine
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