sedan
- an enclosed automobile body having two or four doors and seating four or more persons on two full-width seats.
- sedan chair.
Origin of sedan
Sedan
- a city in NE France, on the Meuse River: defeat and capture of Napoleon III 1870.
Examples from the Web for sedan
Contemporary Examples
Hoech approached the line of police and SWAT vehicles in his sedan late Tuesday, turned around, and parked.
Early Thursday morning, a sedan ran over a crowd of people outside of the Mohawk in Downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW.
Car Crashes Into Crowd at SXSW, 23 People Transported to Hospital, Multiple FatalitiesMarlow Stern
March 13, 2014
The Infiniti sedan then made a right turn toward the West Front of the Capitol.
We could see the big crumpled Mercedes sedan, but not very well.
The Sunseeker has the wingspan of a 747 and a body the same size as a sedan.
Historical Examples
It is the evening of Sedan, the most momentous victory of the century.
Camps, Quarters and Casual PlacesArchibald Forbes
Above all, they still remained an army: they had not yet found their Sedan.
I was sent for by the Count to Sedan to tell him the state of Paris.
The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, CompleteJean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz
In the fierce fighting at Sedan, each in turn saved the other's life.
A Zola DictionaryJ. G. Patterson
Your sister lives in Sedan, you say; perhaps we shall be there before long.
The DownfallEmile Zola
sedan
- US, Canadian and NZ a closed two-door or four-door car with four to six seatsAlso called (in Britain and certain other countries): saloon
- short for sedan chair
Word Origin
Sedan
- 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)
Word Origin and History for sedan
n.
1630s, "covered chair on poles," possibly from a southern Italian dialect derivative of Italian sede "chair" (cf. Italian seggietta, 1590s; the thing itself was said to have been introduced from Naples), from Latin sedes, related to sedere "sit" (see sedentary). Since Johnson's conjecture, often derived from the town of Sedan in France, where it was said to have been made or first used, but historical evidence for this is lacking.
Introduced in England by Sir Sanders Duncombe in 1634 and first called a covered chair. "In Paris the sedan-chair man was usually an Auvergnat, in London an Irishman" ["Encyclopaedia Britannica," 1929]. Meaning "closed automobile seating four or more" first recorded 1912, American English.