sedile

[ se-dahy-lee ]

/ sɛˈdaɪ li /

noun, plural se·dil·i·a [se-dil-ee-uh] /sɛˈdɪl i ə/. Ecclesiastical.

one of the seats (usually three) on the south side of the chancel, often recessed, for the use of the officiating clergy.

Nearby words

Origin of sedile

1785–95; < Latin sedīle sitting-place, equivalent to sed(ēre) to sit¹ + -īle neuter noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sedilia

There are three sedilia, and the high altar seems to have been of marble.
Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys|Dugald Butler and Herbert Story
The sedilia are very fine, and worthy of careful inspection.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Gloucester [2nd ed.]|H. J. L. J. Mass
The sedilia are thirteenth-century work, and were decorated with paintings.
The Cathedrals of Great Britain|P. H. Ditchfield
It has heavy Norman and early English piers, and sedilia and piscina in the chancel with Norman enrichment.
Edge Hill|Edwin Walford

But the most curious feature of these sedilia is not perceived until a glance is given beneath the canopies.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon|Cecil Walter Charles Hallett

British Dictionary definitions for sedilia

sedilia

/ (sɛˈdaɪlɪə) /

noun

(functioning as singular) the group of three seats, each called a sedile (sɛˈdaɪlɪ), often recessed, on the south side of a sanctuary where the celebrant and ministers sit at certain points during High Mass

Word Origin for sedilia

C18: from Latin, from sedīle a chair, from sedēre to sit

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