What is the difference between seat and chair in terms of authority? Are they, or can they be interchangeable?

Oh, you mean sedes.

Cathedra comes from Greek, but not sedes. Both mean seat, chair, throne. Sedes is derived from Latin word sedere, which means to sit.

Sedes may also mean "see". Sedes Apostolica refers to the Apostolic See. sede vacante also means a See without bishop.

Since cathedra was borrowed from Greek, cathedra was considered as a professor's chair. Hence, cathedra would be the bishop's chair.

Sedes does not mean chair or seat in its normal use in ecclesiatical Latin.

Here are the normal words for chair:

Scamnum- a bench, a rough chair
scabellum (scabillum)- low bench, a footstoll
Sedile- every seat fit to sit upon
sella- a chair (may be a sedan chair)
subsellium- a lowerbench near an elevated seat
Cathedra- every chair , also a sedan chair but generally a chair with arms (armchair)


Sedes means seat in the sense of where something is settled or chaired, as I might say that Bardstown is the seat of Nelson County. Yes, its original meaning, from the verb sedeo, is a seat of any sort (like sedile), but the normal use is as in seat of authority.


All of these nouns are actually synonyms, but they have these different connotations, so they can be seen as interchangeable, but also used distinctly