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

sedge wren, sedged, sedgemoor, sedgwick, sedgy, sedile, sedilia, sediment, sedimentary, sedimentary rock, sedimentation

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