seat

pronunciation

How to pronounce seat in British English: UK [siːt] word uk audio image

How to pronounce seat in American English: US [siːt] word us audio image

Noun:

a space reserved for sitting (as in a theater or on a train or airplane)
the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
furniture that is designed for sitting on
any support where you can sit (especially the part of a chair or bench etc. on which you sit)
a center of authority (as a city from which authority is exercised)
the cloth covering for the buttocks
Verb:

show to a seat; assign a seat for
be able to seat
place ceremoniously or formally in an office or position
put a seat on a chair
provide with seats

Word Origin

seat: seat: [12] Seat is of course a close relative of sit – they come from the same prehistoric Germanic base, *set-. But unlike sit, it is not a longestablished native word. It is a borrowing, from Old Norse sáeti. It originally meant ‘act of sitting’, and was not used for ‘something to sit on’ until the 13th century.=> sit

seat (n.1): "thing to sit on; act of sitting," c. 1200, from Old Norse sæti "seat, position," from Proto-Germanic *sæt- (cognates: Old High German saze, Middle Dutch gesaete "seat," Old High German gisazi, German Gesäß "buttocks"), from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit" (see sit). Meaning "posterior of the body" (the sitting part) is from c. 1600; sense of "part of a garment which covers the buttocks" is from 1835. Seat belt is from 1915, originally in airplanes.

seat (n.2): "residence, abode, established place," late 13c., extended use of seat (n.1), influenced by Old French siege "seat, established place," and Latin sedes "seat." Meaning "city in which a government sits" is attested from c. 1400. Sense of "right of taking a place in a parliament or other legislative body" is attested from 1774. Old English had sæt "place where one sits in ambush," which also meant "residents, inhabitants," and is the source of the -set in Dorset and Somerset.

seat (v.): 1570s, "to be in a certain position" (implied in seated), from seat (n.2). Of diseases, in the body, from 1610s (hence deep-seated). Meaning "to cause to sit in a seat" is from 1610s, from seat (n.1). Related: Seated; seating.