sedilia

/ sɛˈdaɪlɪə /

noun

1. (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 History and Origins

Origin of sedilia¹

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

Example Sentences

His pages are peppered with erudite information about north perpendicular windows, Norman towers, triple sedilia and rood-loft doorways, which he appeals to his readers to please "note" and "admire".

From BBC

And oh, that rood-screen—early sixteenth—and those sedilia—in your Church over there!

From Project Gutenberg

The Dorchester example is a small boss in the groined ceiling of the sedilia of celebrants; that at Ewelme is a weather-worn parapet-ornament on the south of the choir; the carving at Farnsham is on a misericorde.

From Project Gutenberg

In a single group of sedilia all the architecture of a great cathedral may be seen in miniature, in arch, column, groined roof, boss, window-tracery, pinnacle, and finial, each part with its share of ornament, of grotesque.

From Project Gutenberg

On a capital in the sedilia of Dorchester Abbey is a curious compound which may be classed as a sphinx.

From Project Gutenberg