seat

▪ I. seat, n.
    (siːt)
    Forms: 2 Kent. sate, 2–3 sæte, 3–5 seete, 3–6 sete, sette, 4–5 seet, Sc. set, 5–6 Sc. seit(t, (5 Sc. seytte, 6 Sc. saitt, sate), 5–7 seate, Sc. sait, 6– seat.
    [a. ON. sǽti = OHG. gasâȥi (MHG. gesæȥe, mod.G. gesäss), MDu. gesaete, gesete (mod.Du. gezeet):—OTeut. *(ga)sǣtjo-m, f. *sǣt- ablaut-var. of *set-: see sit. v.
    The same grade of the root is represented in OE. sǽt (= ON. sát) str. fem., ambush, which occurs only in two obscure passages, and did not survive into ME.]
    I. Action or manner of sitting.
    † 1. a. gen. The action of sitting. Also an assembly at a banquet. Obs.

c 1200 Ormin 11059 He turrnde waterr inntill win..Att an bridaless sæte. a 1300 Cursor M. 28471, I haue halden quen i was sett langsum setes at my mete. Ibid. 29085. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cxxxviii. 2 Þou knew mi seete and mi risinge. a 1400 Octavian 1002 He fonde the boordys covyrde alle, And redy to go to mete; The maydyn..In a kyrtulle there sche stode, And bowne sche was to sete. c 1400 Rule of St. Benet 32 Sain Benet..sais þat vnait sete es il to þe saule. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 2747 Þis bysone mone full wery of sete he was And ryȝt gret lust he hadde to slepe.

    b. concr. A setting or ‘clutch’ (of eggs). ? dial.

1892 Wild & Tame 33 A merchant in Norfolk had a seat of Duck's eggs hatched off.

    2. Manner of sitting (on horseback). (Chiefly with qualifying adj.) Also predicatively, one who has a (good, etc.) seat, a (good, etc.) horseman.

1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 115 b, The ridgebone ouer the shoulders being something hie, giues the horseman a better seate. 1667 Dk. Newcastle Meth. Dressing Horses 205 The Seat is so much..as it is the only thing that makes a Horse go Perfectly. 1693 Locke Educ. §186. 237 It conduces to give a Man a firm and graceful Seat on Horseback. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 48 [Virgil] tells us the exact seat of a Roman dragoon. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe viii, Touch the Hospitaller's shield; he has the least sure seat, he is your cheapest bargain. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge x, The graceful seat of an experienced horseman. 1883 F. M. Peard Contradictions II. 278 Miss Molyneux would never have fallen..for there wasn't a better seat in the county. 1891 N. Gould Double Event 295 He has a fine seat on a horse.

    3. a. The sitting of a court or the like. Now Sc.

1635 Maldon (Essex) Borough deeds (Bundle 80. no. 2), The freeholders within the burrough summoned to appere att the forrest seate or sitinge at Chelmesford. 1638 Ibid. (Bundle 80. no. 3), xs. paid to Mr. Hamound for his charges att the justice seate. 1889 H. Johnston Chron. Glenbuckie iii. 35 We had had a long seat in the Boar's Head hearing reports frae the delegates.

    † b. A sitting body, court of justice. justice seat: see justice n. 12. Obs.

1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 150 Of the counsell, for that it is the hyghe judicial seate of the churche [ecclesiæ supremum tribunal]. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vi. xxv. 486 There were divers seates and iurisdictions, with their Counsellors and Iudges of the Court.

    c. Sc. (More fully seat of session.) The Court of Session, the supreme Civil Court of Scotland; esp. in lords of the seat.

1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiii. 41 Sum sanis the Sait, and sum thame cursis. 1532 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VI. 59 To charge him to compere before the lordis of the sait to ansuer [etc.]. 1545 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 5 Becaus of the fere of the pest that is laytlie risyn in the toun of Edinburcht, the seite of Sessioun may nocht surelie remaine thairin. 1574 Ibid. II. 378 For the administratioun of justice upon offendouris,..in the north partis..far distant frome the ordinar sait of justice. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. iv, ‘Is he a lord of state, or a lord of seat?’... ‘A lord of seat—a lord of session.—I fash mysell little wi' lords o' state.’

    d. Sc. The court of kirk-session. ? Obs.

1568 Reg. St. Andrews Kirk Session (1889) I. 313 The quhilk day Andro Alexander is admonisched be the Superintendent and Seat.

    † 4. ‘Stool’, evacuation of the bowels. (Cf. siege n. 3 b.) Obs.

1697 Phil. Trans. XIX. 367 The Juice of the leaves of Betonica, in Spring, will not Work by Vomit and Seat as well as the Roots.

    5. The ‘set’ or ‘sit’ (of a garment). ? Obs.

1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xxi, And only look at my ruff!.. Colonel Delmour has spoil'd the seat of it.

    II. Place or thing to sit upon.
    6. a. The place on which a person is sitting, or is accustomed to sit; a place to seat one person at a table, in a public building, conveyance, etc.

c 1205 Lay. 30841 Þat folc hafden alle iȝeten and arisen from heore seten. a 1300 Cursor M. 15282 Quen þis super was all don, Iesus ras of his sette [other texts sete; rime lete]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 62 And þei loven first seetis at soperis. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. vii. 424 Kynge Arthur..maade hym knyght of the table round and his seate was where the good Knyghtes sir Marhaus seate was. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. 102 Full slyddrie is the sait that thay on sit. 1575 Gascoigne Posies, Flowers (1907) 91 Me thought I was a loft, and yet my seate full sure: Thy heart dyd seeme to me a rock which ever might endure. 1600 Weakest goeth to Wall G 2, Sexton, I haue sought thee in euery seate in the Church. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 496 Starting at once from their green Seats, they rise; Fear in their Heart, Amazement in their Eyes. 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess of Mar 14 Sept., She ordered me a seat at her right hand. a 1763 W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 244 He went every Sunday to St. James's church, and used to sit in Mr. Salt's seat. 1832 Tennyson Œnone 21 Till the mountain shade Sloped downward to her seat from the upper cliff. 1873 O. W. Holmes Addr. Opening Fifth Avenue Theatre 99 See where the hurrying crowd..Streams to the numbered seat each paste-board fits. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert iii. 22 Then she stalked out of the church. Fortunately we were in the free seats, near the door.

transf. and fig. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 49 Thanne cometh..Anoþer proud partriche..And sesith on hir sete [MS. alteration of cete] with hir softe plumes, And houeth þe eyren. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. ii. 81 When thou wak'st, let loue forbid Sleepe his seate on thy eye-lid. 1741–2 Gray Agrippina 51 If bright ambition from her craggy seat Display the radiant prize. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 432 For Providence..In spite of all the wrigglers into place, Still keeps a seat or two for worth and grace.

    b. Hence, the use of, or right to use, a seat (in a church, theatre, conveyance, etc.). Cf. sitting.

1520 Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading 9 Rec{supd} or Thoms Gyles for his wifes sete iiij{supd}. c 1618 Moryson Itin. iv. (1903) 149 A Countesse..litle or nothing respected..in the Church, where she could hardly gett a seate. 1815 tr. Paris Chit-Chat (1816) III. 176 To-day it is discussed how much should be exacted for seats on the day when Monseigneur comes to confirm. 1844 O. W. Holmes Lines Berksh. Jubilee 51 We'll give you at least..a seat on the grass, And the best of old—water—at nothing a glass. 1879 J. Kerr Ess. Castism & Sectism 79 She paid a pound out of her scanty wages for a seat in the church.

    c. A right to sit as a member, or the position of being a member, of a deliberative or administrative body, esp. of Parliament or other legislative assembly; a place (whether occupied or temporarily vacant) in the membership of the House of Commons, Congress, or the like.
    Sometimes qualified by the designation of that one of the contending parties to which the holder of the (Parliamentary) seat belongs: e.g. ‘The polls for three Liberal and three Conservative seats will be declared to-morrow’.

1774 Burke Sp. Amer. Tax. Wks. II. 399 In the year sixty-five..not having the honour of a seat in this house. 1787 J. Jay in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) IV. 153 Members who will find it convenient to make their seats subservient to partial and personal purposes. 1798 Tyrwhitt in Paget Papers (1896) I. 138 All those who purchased Seats are selling as well as they can. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. li, He was generally respected by those of his own profession, as well as by the laity who had seats in the Assembly. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 453 Jeffreys..very soon after the death of Charles, obtained a seat in the cabinet. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 July 5/4 A seat on the Committee will compel them to hear..the first principles of economical science. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 309/2 By the English Reform Act of 1867..twenty-six seats were taken from boroughs... Seven other English boroughs were disfranchised by the Scottish Reform Act of 1868, these seats being given to Scotland.

    d. U.S. A place in the membership of the New York Stock Exchange.

1820 Constitution N.Y. Stock & Exchange Board in E. C. Stedman N.Y. Stock Exchange (1905) iv. 68 If two-thirds of the members present are for reinstating him, he shall again be entitled to his seat at the Board. 1882 J. D. McCabe N.Y. by Sunlight & Gaslight xxi. 337 A seat in the Board costs about $6000, and is the absolute personal property of its owner. 1948 Time 14 June 90/2 All who buy and sell on the floor must own Stock Exchange seats, which are currently worth about $65,000 apiece (1929 price: $625,000). 1972 Times 16 May (Wall Street Suppl.) p. viii/5 Among the brokers the numbers of ‘seats’ on the exchange remained unchanged at 1,366 (as it has done since December 1953).

    7. a. Something adapted or used for sitting upon, as a chair, stool, sofa, etc. Also spec. a bench to seat one or more persons; a horizontal board or chair-like structure in a boat, coach, train, aeroplane, etc.; † a sedan chair.

c 1375 Cursor M. 14734 (Fairf.) Þaire setis [Cott. setles, Trin. seges] þer þai in con sete he kest ham doun vnder þaire fete. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1094 Anend the setis [of a bath] sette hit so withoute The fourneys. 1584 Churchw. Acc. S. Andrew's, Canterb. (MS.), For a borde to make seates in the belfry & braggett's, vj. 1588 Hickock tr. Frederick's Voy. 40 b, The noble men neuer goe on foote, but are caried by men in a seat. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 392 Rais'd of grassie terf Thir Table was, and mossie seats had round. 1784 Cowper Task v. 162 But in order due Convivial table and commodious seat..were there. 1810 E. Weeton Let. 28 Dec. (1969) I. 318 Perhaps when Mr. and Mrs. P. go to Preston..I may get a seat with them..if they go in the chaise. 1818 Shelley Rosalind 106 They came To a stone seat beside a spring. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 700 A light chariot without a seat. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 848/1 [The Romans'] chairs, couches, and seats were of similar shape to those of the Greeks. 1976 Daily Mirror 16 July 9/6 The bosses are taking up too many first-class seats on main line commuter services. 1977 C. Forbes Avalanche Express vi. 68 Harry Wargrave occupied his normal seat..the gangway seat [in the aircraft].

    b. In narrower sense: That part (of a chair, saddle, etc.) upon which its occupant sits. Also spec. of a lavatory.

1778 F. Burney Evelina (1791) II. 251 Miss Mirvan and I jumped involuntarily upon the seats of our chairs. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iv. xi. ¶5 Chairs without any seats. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Seat, the broad part of a saddle on which the rider sits; also, the top piece on a gig saddle. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 850/1 The seats, backs, and ends are stuffed and upholstered with rich materials. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 518/2 Seat Covers..for use on ‘w.c.'s’. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. iv. 81 Portia..re-wound the gramophone on the shut seat, and Stravinsky filled the bathroom. 1979 M. Hastings Bomber Command vi. 155 The Elsan toilet which most crews had used with acute caution since a 50 Squadron gunner left most of the skin of his backside attached to the frozen seat one icy night over Germany.

    8. a. Contextually applied to the chair set apart for the holder of some position of authority or dignity, the throne of a king or a bishop, or the like, the throne of God or of an angel. Hence fig. the authority or dignity symbolized by sitting in a particular chair or throne. regal seat or royal seat (arch.), † seat-royal, a royal throne.

a 1200 Vices & Virtues 105 Iusticia et iudicium preparatio sedis eius,..Rihtwisnesse and dom, hi makieð godes sate. c 1200 Ormin 11959 Þe deofell brohhte Jesu Crist Wiþþutenn o þe temmple Upponn an sæte uppo þe rof,..Forr þær wass greȝȝþedd sæte o lofft Till þa þatt sholldenn spellenn. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 155 King of Crete He hadde be; bot of his sete He was put doun. c 1400 Gamelyn 855 Gamelyn sette him doun in the Iustices seet. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xlii. 141 Thou art not worthy to sytt in a sete royall. 1533 Bellenden Livy iii. xxii. (1903) II. 36 He callit þe consullis to raise ane new contentioun to þare seittis. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 26 This is the Pallace of the fearefull King, And this the Regall Seat: possesse it Yorke. 1617 Purchas Pilgrimage (ed. 3) 595 The King comes forth in open audience, sitting in his Seat-royall. 1659 Hammond On Ps. xx. 6 Paraphr. 116 As if by his own right hand from heaven, his holy seat of mansion, he should reach out deliverance to him. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 27 On to the sacred hill They led him high applauded, and present Before the seat supreme. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. v. i, I, for myself, th' Imperial Seat will gain. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist, i. vi. 80 A third..Can give or take the Honours of the State, The Consul's Fasces, and the Prætor's Seat. 1820 Shelley Witch of Atlas 634 The king would dress an ape up in his crown And robes, and seat him on his glorious seat.

    b. spec. The throne of a particular kingdom.

1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 88 Of his true Titles to some certaine Dukedomes, And generally, to the Crowne and Seat of France. Ibid. i. i. 269 We neuer valew'd this poore seate of England. 1896 A. Austin England's Darling i. i, And in the seat of Mercia Ceowulf rules.

    † c. Apostolic seat [F. Siège apostolique], Holy seat [F. Saint-Siège], Peter's seat: the papal chair, its occupant or his office. (Cf. see n.) Obs.

1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 16 b, He that hathe the Seate and faith of Peter, was ever taken for his successour. 1563 Winȝet tr. Vincent. Lirin. viii. Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 25 Pape Steuin.., Prælat of the Apostolik Sait [apostolicæ sedis antistes]. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 405 The authoritie where with they do it, is not knowen,..the seat apostolicke did neuer giue it them. 1673–4 Clarendon Relig. & Policy (1811) I. 202 The reserving of the first-fruits of all vacant benefices to the holy seat.

    † d. As the title of an order of angels; = throne. (Used to render L. sedes.) Obs.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. x. (1495) 37 The thyrde Ordre is the ordre of Thrones... Ysidore & therfore Denys calle theym þ{supt} hyghest setes [sedes altissimæ] for they ben hye as it were by auctoryte of god ordened for to deme... Sadde setes [Sedes compactæ] for they ben couenable & conuenyently Joyned towchynge the Joynture & conuenyentes of domes of god. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades iv. ix. 737/2 Truely the Apostle sayth, Whether seates, (thrones) whether lordships, whether principalities, whether powers.

    9. a. The sitting part of the body; the posteriors. Also jocularly, seat of honour (and nonce-variations).

1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 189 A plaister thereof..cureth also all tumours in the priuy parts, and in the seate. 1727 Gay Fables xxiii. 80 They stick with pins my bleeding seat. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 84 The snorting beast began to trot, Which gall'd him in his seat. 1785 R. Cumberland Observer No. 24 ¶12 With one kick, pretty forcibly bestowed upon the seat of dishonour. 1792 Wolcot Pair of Lyric Ep. 18 Behold him seiz'd, his seat of honour bare; The bamboo sounds—alas! no voice of Fame. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace iii. (1892) 148 The Turk..gave him two or three lusty kicks on the seat of honour. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas v. i. ¶3 My seat of vengeance was firked most unmercifully. 1820 Combe Syntax, Wife ii. 289 While with his spade the conq'ror plied, Stroke after stroke, the seat of shame, Which blushing Muses never name. 1835 Hood Dead Robbery iii, The stiff 'un that he thought to meet Starts sudden up, like Jacky-in-a-box, Upon his seat! 1878 Athletic World 10 May 66/2 A well-ventilated [bicycle-]saddle is the best preventative for those blisters which favour the seat of honour.

    b. That part (of a garment, esp. of a pair of trousers) which covers the posteriors.

1835 Marryat Jac. Faithf. ii, I had a pair of trowsers with no seat to them. a 1849 Hawthorne Twice-told T., Village Uncle, Another [fellow] has planted the tarry seat of his trousers on a heap of salt.

    10. The ‘form’ of a hare. Now dial.
    [Cf. Gr. ἡ καθέδρα τοῦ λαγῶ Xen. Cyneg. iv. §4]

1735 Somerville Chase ii. 25 So the wise Hares Oft quit their Seats, lest some more curious Eye Shou'd mark their Haunts. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. ii. vi. 139 The Form of the Hare, or as it is sometimes called, her seat. 1962 Sunday Express 1 Apr. 21/5 These lairs [of hares] are usually called ‘forms’,..though in..Kent, the cosier word ‘seats’ is preferred. 1972 Evans & Thomson Leaping Hare iv. 52 They'll dig a little hole so they can cover, so they're level with the top of the land... A seat we call it.

    11. Boot-trade. An engagement to work at making boots of a specified kind. Const. of.

1791 J. Lackington Mem. xvii. 114, I could not bear the idea of returning to the leather-branch; I therefore attempted and obtained a seat of Stuff in Bristol. Ibid. xviii. 118, I left my seat of work at Bristol, and returned..to Taunton. 1896 Daily News 2 Mar. 10/6 Boot trade. Wanted, a Seat of Woman's Work.

    III. Residence, abode, situation. [Cf. L. sedes.]
    12. Applied spec. (after L. sedes) to: The abiding place or resting place (of departed souls); a position in this place. Now arch. or poet.

c 1275 Sinners Beware 52 in O.E. Misc. 73 Wikede beoþ þe sete [sc. Hell] And the wurmes eke Þat doþ þe saule teone. a 1300 Cursor M. 25448 Reu me lauerd..and wiss me waies þare þare santes has þair seli sete. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 36 Thanne he preide Unto the Patriarch and seide: Send Lazar doun fro thilke Sete, And do that he his finger wete In water. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 416 Behold! I se hevyn oppyn & a seatt ordand for me. 1561 J. Daus Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 218 b, The soules passing out of the body before the end and last iudgement go right into the blessed seates. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 112 Mount, mount my soule, thy seate is vp on high. 1707–45 Watts Hymn, ‘How bright these glorious Spirits’, How came they to the happy Seats of everlasting Day? 1832 Tennyson Œnone 129 Gods, who have attain'd Rest in a happy place and quiet seats Above the thunder.

    13. a. (Cf. 8.) A city in which a throne, court, government is established or set up; a capital.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 1630 Priam..a pales gert make Within the Cite full Solempne of a sete riall. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xiii. 49 Mehemet..resoluing to keep there the seat of his empire. 1595 T. Bedingfield tr. Machiavelli's Florent. Hist. 1 Rome, the antient Emperiall seate. 1678 Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. i. 467/2 Constantinople was taken by Mahomet, and made the chief Seat of the Turkish Empire. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 541 Peking, the Royal Seat of the Chinese Emperor. 1836 Thirlwall Greece xii. II. 85 This [Miletus] was the seat chosen by Neleus himself. 1851 Dixon W. Penn i. (1872) 4 His seat of government was far away from the coast.

    b. (Cf. 8 c.) = see n. Now only seat of a bishop.

1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 77 Þe chief moderchirche of al Wales, and þe chief sete [Caxton see]. c 1475 Harl. Contin. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 436 Maister John Barnette, bischop of Worcester, was translate to the seete of Bathe. a 1552 Leland Itin. IV. 16 The which was at that tyme nother of his Inheritaunce nor Purchace, but as a thing taken of the Sete of Wiccestre in Farme. 1582 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 474 The cheptoure of the seitt of Glasgow. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. lii. 296 In England a city is usually taken to be a place which is or has been the seat of a bishop.

    14. a. The thing (esp. the organ or part of the body) in which a particular power, faculty, function or quality ‘resides’; the locality of a disease, sensation, or the like.

1390 Gower Conf. III. 100 The dreie Colre..his propre sete [L. domus] Hath in the galle, wher he duelleth. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. ii. (1495) 102 The heede is pryncypall place and seete of wyttes. 1676 Grew Musæum, Anat. Stomach & Guts vi. 26 The said Three Ventricles..are the Seat of Tast. 1753 R. Russell Diss. Sea Water 182 The Patient..complained only of those Parts, which were the late Seat of the Disease. 1777 Priestly Matt. & Spir. I. iv. (1782) 47 We formed a judgment concerning the necessary seat of thought. 1842 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. VI. vii. 98 The heart may be considered as the seat of life. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxviii. 363 Mercurial ostitis of the head is a very common form of disease: its more usual seats are the frontal and parietal bones. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 196 The air itself between the eye and the distant pines being the seat of the colour. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. II. v. §57 (1875) 185 The string is the seat of a tension generated by the motion of the ball. 1874 Carpenter Ment. Phys. i. ii. §61 (1879) 63 The Sensorial centres whose seat is in the head. 1892 W. R. Gowers Man. Dis. Nerv. Syst. I. 333 The lesions of chronic myelitis resemble those of acute myelitis in seat and distribution.

    b. Similarly, of the soul or its parts.

1579 Hake Newes out of Powles iv. (1872) D iij b, The stomack ouerchardgde..Doth make the minde and inwarde man vnfit for reasons seate. 1716–17 Bentley Serm. xi. 383 [His heart is] the Seat of selfishness. 1751 Jortin Serm. I. iii. (1771) 57 A mind tormented with furious passions, the seat of hopes which are disappointed. 1847 R. W. Hamilton Rewards & Punishm. viii. (1853) 365 Sin has its seat in the soul. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. iii. i. (1874) 309 We regard the will as the seat of all virtue and vice.

    15. a. A place where something takes place, or where some particular condition of things prevails. seat of war [= L. sedes belli]: the region in which warfare is going on.

c 1560 A. Scott Poems xxxv. 4 Alwayis to fle iniquite And sait of syn and schame. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v., Sedes luxuriæ. Cic. The seate or habitation of riot and sensualitie. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 140 In this Seat of Peace. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. i. §2. 110 Those parts which were furthest remote from the seat of those grand transactions. 1673 Temple Observ. United Prov. i. 44 The other retires into Holland, and makes that the seat of the War. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. i. (1690) 9 A plain open Country..where the seat of War may be both Winter and Summer. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. vii. 259 Foretelling, at what Time Rome or Babylon or Greece..should be the most conspicuous Seat of..Tyranny and Dissoluteness. 1803 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) I. 432 Forage, for which every large body of troops must depend upon the country which is to be the seat of its operations. 1810 Crabbe Borough xii. 303 And who shall say where guided? to what seats Of starving villany? of thieves and cheats? 1876 A. J. Evans Through Bosnia iii. 87 Many Croats and Slovenes..were..leaving for the seat of war. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. xvii. 278 The region which has been the seat of these changes.

    b. A city or locality in which (a branch of trade, learning, etc.) is established.

1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xiii. 49 Galata, being the seate of trade of the Geneuoises. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 488 Cambridge..was a seat of learning about the time of King Henry the First. 1788 Priestley Lect. Hist. v. xxxvi. 264 So little attention was given to matters of science in Europe, their former seat. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 585 Taunton..was a celebrated seat of the woollen manufacture. 1865 Dircks Life Marq. Worc. i. 1 Blackfriars was..the seat of fashion. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. vii. 153 It was in those days the chief seat of the Irish slave-trade.

    16. a. A place of habitation or settlement (of a tribe, people, etc.). Also transf. (of birds).

1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 217 Baith Scot and Pecht..war baneist all out of tha boundis, And Saxonis sone in thair saittis set doun. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xv. Comment., We often see with a clap of thunder doves or other fowles driven headlong from their seates. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iv. vii. §iii. 301 These Gaules were the race of those, that issued out of their Countrie, to seeke new seates in that great expedition. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xi. §146 The seat of the old Irish..was the province of Ulster. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 327 Betwixt the midst [the torrid zone] and these [the frigid zones], the Gods assign'd Two habitable Seats for Humane Kind. 1762 Hume Hist. Eng. I. i. 2 The convenience of feeding their Cattle was even a sufficient motive for removing their seats. 1835 Thirlwall Greece v. I. 149 Corinth, one of the principal seats of the Minyan race. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. 13 Central Europe was not at that time the seat of civilized nations.

    † b. seat and soil [= L. sedes ac solum (Livy)]: a region of habitation. Obs.

a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 1749 All þe gracious godis..þat sauys sete & soile & sustaynes þe erth. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. §3. 38 [Certain places are said in Scripture to resemble Paradise:] being compared to a seat and soyle of farre exceeding excellencie. Ibid. §5. 40 Or if the soile and seate had not remained, then would not Moses, who wrote of Paradise about 850 years after the floud, haue described it so particularly.

    c. = country-seat.

1607 Norden Surv. Dial. iii. 85 Let Princes haue their Palaces, and great men, their pleasant seates. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 481 Rising-castle..the seat in times past of the Albineys. 1796 Pegge Anonym. (1809) 325 Houses, better than farm-houses, but not sumptuous enough to be called seats or capital mansions. 1812 Crabbe Tales iii. 56 And guests politely call'd his house a seat. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 98 And here we lit on..lady friends From neighbour seats. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts i, No gentleman's seat is within an easy drive of us.

    † 17. Local or geographical position or situation. seat of living: habitat (of an animal). Obs.

1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 660 We shall manifest, that either the colour or seate of liuing, cannot agree with the Strepsiceros. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. §i. 33 The Lord God planted a garden, Eastward, in Eden... Of this seate and place of Paradise, all ages haue held dispute. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 173 He knew the Seat of Paradise, Could tell in what Degree it lies. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth i. 36 But the Sea..left these Shells there as marks of its ancient bounds and seat.

    18. Position (of ground, a city, habitation) as regards surroundings, climate, etc.; situation, site; hence, the position of a person or living thing with regard to habitation or situation.

1549 Russell in Froude Hist. Eng. (1882) IV. 435 They found the rebels strongly encamped, as well by the seat of the ground as by the entrenching of the same. a 1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1908) C ij b, But mee thinkes, this is a pleasant Citie, The Seate is good, and yet not stronge. 1574 R. Scot. Hop Garden (1578) 9 The Hoppe that lykes not..his seate, his grounde,..or the manner of his setting &c. commeth vp..small in stalke. 1591 Florio 2nd Fruites 29 You are lodged then in a verie good seate [In buon sito]. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. vi. 1 This Castle hath a pleasant seat. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 6 Although the seate of the Towne be excessive hot, yet it is happily qualified by a North-East gale. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. iii. Intermeane, In Siluer-streete, the Region of money, a good seat for a Vsurer. 1625 Bacon Ess., Building (Arb.) 547 Hee that builds a faire House, upon an ill Seat, committeth Himselfe to Prison. 1673 Temple Observ. United Prov. i. 44 Holland..was strong by its nature and seat among the Waters that encompass and divide it. 1693 Dryden Persius vi. 1 Has Winter caus'd thee, friend, to change thy seat, And seek in Sabine air a warm retreat? a 1701 Sedley 4th Bk. Virg. Georg. Wks. 1778 I. 26 First, for your Bees a seat and station chuse Shelter'd from winds.

    † 19. a. A definite place (on a surface, in a body or organ, in a series). Obs.

1574 H. Baker Well-spring Sci. (1617) 2 [In Numeration] a place is called a seat or roome that a figure standeth in. 1576 Fleming tr. Caius' Dogs (1880) 2 Of these three sortes..so meane I to entreate, that the first in the first place, the last in the last roome, and the myddle sort in the middle seate, be handled. 1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 9 That Seame..rising from the hollowes of the temples, pearseth, through the middle seates of the eyes. 1653 Ld. Brouncker tr. Des Cartes' Compend. Mus. 40 Unlesse all the Tones of these be removed by a Fourth or Fifth, from their proper Seat. 1676 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 521 The Seates or places where the same Bookes are to be putt..shall have the name of the said S{supr} Thomas Sclater putt upon them. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 39 b, If..Buildings obstruct your Sight from discovering and fixing upon the exact Seat of every Angle. 1775 T. Sheridan Art of Reading 38 For many Contiguous letters [of the alphabet] as they now lie are performed in such different seats and with such different exertions of the organs.

    † b. = locus 2. Obs. (? nonce-use.)

1628 T. Spencer Logick 14 Aristotle assigneth ten places, or seates of arguments, in the fourth Chapter of his Categories.

    † 20. A term of the game of Post and Pair. Obs.

1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester xxii. (ed. 2) 106 You must first stake at Post, then at Pair; after this deal two Cards apiece, then stake at the Seat.

    IV. Basis, foundation, support.
    † 21. a. A place prepared for something to be erected or set up upon it; a building site. Obs.

1615 Markham County Contentm. i. i. 14 Against the side of this hill would be cut or digged diuers large and broad seats one aboue an other,..which seats would bee..boorded..on the sides..and also close boorded aloft,..the number of these seats would bee according to the number of your Hounds. a 1627 Hayward Edw. VI (1630) 85 A Church by Strand-bridge, and two Bishops houses, were pulled downe to make a seat for his new building. 1662 Gerbier Principles 14 But as for a Seate on Moorish Grounds.., in effect 'tis to Build perpetually.

    † b. transf. in Perspective. (See quot.)

1815 R. Brown Princ. Pract. Perspective 3 Seat is the space that an object would occupy on the ground plane.

    22. That part of a thing upon which it rests or appears to rest, usually the broadest part; the base.

1661 N. N. Drayning Fenns 7 Banks..9 foot high and 60 foot wide at seat or bottom. 1681 Grew Musæum i. §vi. i. 139 The first..is the Edible Button Fish. These have very great Prickles, with Seats or Bases proportionable. 1828 P. Nicholson Masonry 37 A horizontal section of a wall, through the base-line, is called the seat of the wall. 1830 Hedderwick Mar. Archit. 118 Seat, the bottom part of a timber; the seat of the floors is that part which rests on the keel. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 114 The eddy which the ship draws after her at her seat or line of flotation. 1855 Franke Beil's Technol. Dict. II. 452 Seat of wooden bellows (the lower or fixed chest or box), der Unterkasten, Gîte.

    b. The position of a horseshoe with respect to the hoof. Cf. seated ppl. a. 7.

1851 H. Stephens Bk. Farm (ed. 2) I. 338/1 The transparent shoe, showing the usual seat given to the shoe upon the forefoot.

    23. Mech. A part or surface upon which the base of something rests.

1805 Shipwright's Vade-m. 129 Seat, the scarph or part trimmed out for a chock, &c. to fay to. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 414 The beam being received into the seats formed on..the palms [of a plough]. 1858 R. Murray Marine Engines (ed. 3) 71 It more frequently happens that the valve fits its seat so badly as to allow of the escape of steam. 1875 T. Seaton Fret Cutting 103 Carvers leave a level place called a seat, where this extra thickness is required, and glue on a piece. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Seat, that part of the bore of a chambered piece of ordnance at which the shell rests when rammed home. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 129 A hole is drilled so much less in size than the jewel as to allow of a firm seat for it. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 583/1 To obtain the requisite convexity by rounding the formation surface or seat of the road.

    b. The surface on which the head of a poppet-valve rests when the valve is closed.

1841 Valve-seat [see valve n.1 8 a]. 1916, etc. [see grind v.1 5 b]. 1936 E. A. Phillipson Steam Locomotive Design x. 353 The springs provided to assist the valves to return to their seats are located in the steam spaces. 1963 R. F. Webb Motorists' Dict. 220 It is essential that the valve is accurately ground to match the seat so as to form an effective gas seal. 1970 K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobk. i. 13 Refacing of the valve head seating area must be done on a special universal grinder enabling the angle of the seat to be accurately set.

    24. Mining. a. The floor of a mine. b. The stratum (of clay, rock, etc.) upon which coal lies.

1860 Eng. & Foreign Mining Gloss. (ed. 2) 43 [Derbyshire terms.] Seat, or Sole, the floor or bottom of the mine. 1867 Smythe Coal 25 The floor, thill, or seat.., of the coal is an underclay.

    25. Shoemaking. A piece of leather pegged or sewn to the boot as a foundation for the heel.

1882 Worc. Exhib. Catal. iii. 30 The nails..spread as they go in so as to nail the heel closely round the seat of the boot. 1895 Hasluck's Boot Making vii. 107 If a pegged seat is wanted, it must be arranged for before the boot is lasted, as it is necessary to skive the stiffener much thinner..than is wanted for a sewn seat.

    † 26. Used to render L. sedes in technical senses. a. Anat. seat of the heart: see quots. 1398. seat of the skull: app. the cheek-bone. b. Surg. [after Gr. βέλεος ἕδρη, Hipp.] See quot. 1634. Obs.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxvi. (1495) 149 And the herte hath in the brede therof two grystlewe bones, whyche ben callyd the setes therof. Ibid. v. lix. 175 In the mydyll of the herte of a beest is a grystyll bone sette in the brede therof and that is callyd the seet and subtylte of the herte. 1552 Udall tr. Geminus' Anat. B vij b/2 The seate of y⊇ scull, whych we call the stonny seate [orig. sedes calvariæ, quam lapidosam dicimus]. Ibid., Thys seate together wyth hys felowe on the other syde, we call the cheake bones. 1634 T. Johnson tr. Parey's Chirurg. x. i. 337 Hippocrates..in his Booke..seemes to have made 4. or 5. kinds of fractures of the Scull... The 4. is named Sedes, or a seat. Ibid. 338 Seate, when the marke of the weapon remaines imprinted in the wound, that the wound is of no more length, nor bredth than the weapon fell upon.

    V. 27. Phrases. a. to hold, keep a or one's seat: to remain seated, to keep from falling; also, to retain one's position as a Member of Parliament. Similarly, to lose one's seat.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 7409 Than Achilles..Al to hurlet the helme of þe high prinse; But hym seluyn was safe, & his seate helde. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 36 Nor neuer Hidra⁓headed Wilfulnesse So soone did loose his Seat. 1602 ― Ham. i. v. 96 While memory holds a seate In this distracted Globe. 1605 ― Macb. iii. iv. 54 Sit worthy Friends:..Pray you keepe Seat. 1745 Life Bamfylde-Moore Carew 66 The Quack being no longer able to keep his Seat [on horseback] falls headlong. 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 485 Part [of the riders] reel'd but kept their seats. 1881 Gladstone Sp. at Leeds 7 Oct. in Times 8 Oct. 6/3, I never was called upon..to exercise an option between Leeds and Mid Lothian. My seat for both was lost by my acceptance of office.

    b. † to make one's seat (obs.), to take a seat: to sit down. to take one's seat: to take the sitting-place assigned to one; to assume one's official position, to be formally admitted to Parliament or Congress.

c 1400 Rule of St. Benet 1791 Of þam þat er not redi þair To say þe grace & take þer sete. c 1425 Cursor M. 8291 (Trin.) On a bowȝe he [sc. an angel] made his sete Of þat tre þat was so swete. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 10 On the ground, Where I must take like Seat vnto my fortune. 1789 Cowper Queen's Vis. London 2 When long sequester'd from his throne George took his seat again. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 222 The..judge having taken his seat. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam ii. 997 Ere this power can make In human hearts its calm and holy seat. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 238 A writ of summons was issued to him, and he took his seat accordingly. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xxxiv, I took a seat: St. John stood near me. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 203 About two hundred and fifty members took their seats. 1865 H. Phillips Amer. Paper Curr. II. 49 [He] took his seat in congress as one of the delegates from Pennsylvania.

    c. to take a or the back seat, fig. to take up the least prominent position, to occupy a subordinate place. orig. U.S.

1868 in Farmer's Slang Dict. s.v. Back Seat, [Andrew Johnson's famous saying in 1868 that in the work of Reconstruction traitors should take back seats.] 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. xlvi. 195 A leader came to care for his influence within his State chiefly as a means of gaining strength in the wider national field... The State, therefore, had, to use the transatlantic phrase, ‘to take the back seat.’

    d. the seat of one's pants: see pants n. pl. 1 e.
    e. to be on seat: to be present in one's office. W. Afr. pidgin.

1971 J. Spencer Eng. Lang. W. Afr. 29 A very useful one which might be recommended to English-speaking communities elsewhere is the expression (to be) on seat, as in a sentence such as ‘The Deputy Secretary is back on seat today’; meaning he is in the office, or generally available, as opposed to being absent. 1976 Listener 17 June 773/1 If you ask his servant where the district commissioner has gone, the servant tells you he is at the office with the impressive phrase: ‘Master's on seat.’

    VI. Combinations.
    28. General relations: a. simple attrib., as seat-back, seat-cover, seat cushion, seat frame, seat lug, seat pillar, seat rail, seat reservation, seat row, seat stitch; objective, as seat borer, seat maker, seat owner.

1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It iii. 30 The conductor bent all the *seat-backs down. 1976 M. Birmingham Heat of Sun ii. 21, I..turned my head, half expecting to be able to see over the seat-back.

1875 Guide High Wycombe 56 [Chair-] *seat-borer.

1881 C. C. Harrison Woman's Handiwork iii. 193 A *seat-cover of slate-green plush. 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. b13/4 (Advt.), Morris Katz & Sons Car Radio & Seatcover Center, Inc.

1860 G. A. Spottiswoode Vac. Tour 82 We suddenly saw *seat⁓cushions, books, and plaids neatly lifted out by the wind.

1881 Young Every Man his Own Mech. §781 The front and back of the *seat-frame are connected by short rails.

1875 Guide High Wycombe 56 [Chair-] *seat-maker.

1898 Cycling 34 The *seat pillar [of a bicycle] should never project more than two inches from the *seat lug.

1891 Century Dict., *Seat-rail,..one of the horizontal members of the frame which forms or supports the seat, as in a chair or sofa.

1973 W. McCarthy Detail iii. 181 He checked in for his *seat reservation.

1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. vi. iii, The Thirty *seat-rows of that famed Slope are again full.

1895 Hasluck's Boot Making ii. 47 One way to sew them [sc. upper and sole] together again is by loop-stiching... The *seat-stitch is another way.

    29. Special comb.: seat-arch, an arched recess in a wall having a flat place to serve as a seat; seat-back, a piece of tapestry, leather or other material for covering the back of a seat (Cent. Dict. 1891); seat belt, a safety belt for a person in a moving conveyance, spec. one worn in an aircraft, esp. at take-off or landing, or one worn in a motor vehicle as a protection in an accident or in an emergency stop; also fig.; hence seat-belted a., wearing a seat belt; seat-board, (a) (see quot. 1884); (b) = seat-tree; (c) a board suspended from scaffolding to serve as a seat for a workman; (d) a board forming a seat in a vehicle; seat-bone Anat., the innominate bone or hip-bone; more strictly the ischium; seat-box (see quot.); seat-breaker, a shoemaker's tool (see quot.); seat-clay = next (Cent. Dict.); seat-earth, one of the various names applied to the bed underlying a coal-seam; seat-file, a shoemaker's file for smoothing the ‘seat’ of a boot; seat-holder, (a) one who occupies a particular seat; (b) one who rents or owns a seat or sitting (esp. in a church, theatre, etc.); seat-house dial., a dwelling-house, ‘the manor on an estate’ (Jam.); seat-iron, a shoemaker's tool (see quot.); seat-mate N. Amer., one who shares the same seat with another; seat-mile, a statistical unit denoting one mile travelled by one passenger, spec. in travel by air; seat-mongering, trading in parliamentary seats; seat-owner, one who owns a ‘pocket-borough’ or a county seat; seat-pack, a parachute carried in a pack worn over the posterior; seat-piece Shoemaking = sense 25 (above); seat-rent, the amount paid for a sitting in a church; seat-seller, one who sells parliamentary seats; hence seat-selling; seat-sock, a sock for the heel of a boot or shoe; seat-stone = seat-earth; seat-transom Naut. (see quot.); seat-tree, the seat of a hand-loom; seat wheel (see quot. 1895); seat-worm, a threadworm, Oxyuris vermicularis, infesting the fundament.

1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 224 A pair of Stone-peers with *Seat-arches.

1932 Luftfahrt (Illustrierte technische Wörterbücher XVII) 128/3 *Seat belt. 1933 Aeroplane 27 Dec. 1101/2 ‘Please fix seat-belts.’ (Note! not safety belts.) 1959 B.S.I. News Apr. 18/2 Arising from the interest now being displayed in seat belts for motorists, a new technical committee of the B.S.I. recently held its first meeting, at which it was decided that a British Standard for these articles would serve a useful purpose. 1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 vi. 150 You're chicken, she told herself, snapping her seat belt... She drove savagely along the freeway. 1970 C. Hampton Philanthropist iii. 32 He..came and sat next to me on the sofa, and I thought this is it, fasten your seat belts. 1977 B. Freemantle Charlie Muffin xix. 192 They had cleared the airport and the seat-belt sign had been turned off.

1967 J. Redgate Killing Season (1968) i. xv. 65 The redhead sat, *seat-belted, talking.

1873 J. H. Beadle Undevel. West iii. 70 The wagon made fearful lurches, and our *seatboard rattled over it in every direction. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 233 Seat Board..in a long case clock [is] the shelf that supports the movement. 1891 H. Johnston Kilmallie I. i. 6 When the laddie's legs had grown almost sufficiently to warrant his elevation to the ‘seat-board’. 1901 J. Black's Carp. & Build., Scaffolding 68 The crack in the side of the stack was successfully repaired by the men working from seat boards suspended from the platform above.

1662 Comenius' Janua Ling. Triling. 48 The *seat-bone under the loins is called the flank-bone. 1855 Ramsbotham Obst. Med. & Surg. 4 The os ischium, os sedentarium, or seat⁓bone.

1801 Felton Carriages (ed. 2) I. 149 The *seat-box, a box made to slide under the seat... It is..convenient to carry linen, &c.

1895 Hasluck's Boot Making viii. 130 To make up the seat after the seat has been nicely pared up, damp the leather and use the *seat breaker, rubbing it evenly round the seat.

1877 Huxley Physiogr. 236 Each bed of coal is supported by a layer of shale known as under-clay or *seat-earth.

1891 in W. Andrews Bygone Northamptonshire 194 The implements of [the shoemaker's] craft,..the awl, clincher.., hammer, *seat-file.

1825 Hone Everyday Bk. I. 1184 A large space, which..greatly to the discomfiture of the lower *seat-holders, was nearly occupied by spectators. 1842 Card. Wiseman Ess. (1853) I. 378 The English seat-holder surrounded by all the luxury of worsted⁓worked cushions [etc.].

1483 in Finchale Priory (Surtees) 96 And the sayd S{supr} Georg sall repare..the forsayd messuag' that is to say on *seyt house of v rowmys on berne of v rowmys.

1885 J. B. Leno Boot & Shoemaking xvii. 137 The *Seat Iron. This once popular piece of kit has been partially superseded by the seat wheel; but many of the best workmen still employ it to set the seat..before using the seat wheel.

1859 Ladies' Repository Nov. 645/1 She will tickle the neck of her *seat-mate with a bit of grass. 1885 New York Times 26 Dec., The mother, tho' wholly unaware of her seat-mate's identity, did her utmost to protect him. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 7/1 A television interview by my hon. friend's seatmate. 1976 L. Sanders Hamlet Warning (1977) xv. 124 On the night flight to Lisbon..his seatmate was a German auto parts specialist.

1953 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Mar. 22/2 Mr. Cole predicted the combined airlines would have an annual capacity of 1,470,000,000 *seat miles..by June of next year. 1961 P. W. Brooks Mod. Airliner i. 26 The most important non-stop stage lengths have been achieved—notably London–New York, 3,500 seat-miles. 1977 Guernsey Weekly Press 21 July 1/4 The 'plane is claimed to be economical with a fuel consumption per seat-mile lower than that of any other modern commercial transport aircraft.

1813 Examiner 12 Apr. 237/1 My Lord Castlereagh's *seat-mongering.

1818 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 355 On the absolute sway of the great *seat owners over King, Ministers, and People.

1930 O. H. Kneen Everyman's Bk. of Flying xii. 217 For use in airplanes, the *seat pack is generally used. 1946 W. F. Burbidge From Balloon to Bomber iii. 45 The ‘seat pack’ forms a cushion during the plane journey.

1885 J. B. Leno Boot & Shoemaking viii. 55 *Seat pieces for common work may be cut from almost any scraps of leather.

1865 Ch. Times 11 Mar. 76/4 The incumbent raised the *seat⁓rents to prevent the parishioners taking seats.

1821 Cobbett Rural Rides (1853) 14 Their blue arms and lips, would have made any heart ache, but that of a *seat-seller or a loan⁓jobber.

1817 ― Pol. Reg. XXXII. 14, I did not believe that there could be any such thing as *seat-selling.

1895 Hasluck's Boot Making viii. 145 Gent's boots or shoes will only want a *seat-sock.

1878 Green Coal i. 28 *Seat-stones vary very much in their composition, the generality of them are clays.

1805 Shipwright's Vade-m. 129 *Seat transom, that transom which is fayed and bolted to the counter⁓timbers, next above the deck transom, at the height of the port sills.

1790 A. Wilson Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) II. 242 ‘Groans fr. Loom’, Go,..live o'er a *seat-tree—on nought! 1885 *Seat wheel [see seat iron above]. 1895 Hasluck's Boot Making viii. 130 Run the seat-wheel evenly round [the edge of the seat], so that it leaves..one straight line of regular indentations.

1893 R. H. Harte Local Therap. 158 Lime-water is used with advantage as an injection to destroy *Seat-worms.

▪ II. seat, v.
    (siːt)
    [f. seat n.]
    1. a. trans. To place on a seat or seats; to cause to sit down.

1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iv. 31 So now y'are fairely seated. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 298 Their Poets and Historians are great frequenters of these places... These are seated in a high Chair, in the midst. 1669 Evelyn Diary 15 July, This ended, we were..seated by the Vice-Chancellor amongst the Doctors on his right hand. 1672 Wiseman Wounds ii. 91 Seat him [sc. the patient] so as it may be for your conveniency. 1725 Lond. Gaz. No. 6382/4 The Great Master..seated the Proxy down in the Stall. 1805 T. Lindley Voy. Brazil 150 The old man seated me. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xxiii, He seated me and himself. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xlv, Dinah raised her gently from her knees, and seated her on the pallet again.

fig. 1776 Toplady Hymn, ‘Holy Ghost, dispel our Sadness’, Seat us with Thy saints in glory. 1859 Tennyson Merlin & V. 727 Because of that high pleasure which I had To seat you sole upon my pedestal Of worship.

    b. refl. To take one's seat, sit down. Const. at, in, upon, etc.

1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 37 Ist fit an Eagle seate him with a Flie? 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 100 To seate him-selfe sure in the Saddle. 1765 J. Brown Chr. Jrnl. 204 Yonder fly has seated himself upon the surface of a rough stone. 1779 Mirror No. 9 We went at an early hour, and seated ourselves in the middle of the pit. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xx, ‘Wha was it?’..said Effie, seating herself upright. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dan. ii. xiv. Lady Catherine good-naturedly seated herself at the piano-forté. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 245, I saw the landlady..seat herself amply before a row of baskets.

    † c. intr. for refl. To sit down; also (of animals) to lie down. Of a hare: To sit in its form.

1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. ix. 4 The folds, where sheepe at night doe seat. 1609 W. M. Man in Moon (Percy Soc.) 7 Long had they not seated, but one knocked at the gate. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xiv. (1660) 166 You shall say that a Hare Seateth or Formeth. 1686 R. Blome Gentl. Recr. ii. 76 A Hare Seateth or Formeth, a Coney sitteth. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 146 There, seating,..I will now tell you, my uncle, says he.

    d. trans. To cause or enable to sit in or on a throne, chair of state or office, or other seat of authority or dignity. Hence, to establish (a person) in a position of authority or dignity. Formerly without const., † to enthrone (a king).

1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 22 Before I see thee seated in that Throne, Which now the House of Lancaster vsurpes, I vow by Heauen, these eyes shall neuer close. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 101 They doubted not to seate a King, at their pleasures. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Justine ii. x. 13 Xerxes being thus mutually seated in the kingdome. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 720 To inshrine Belus or Serapis thir Gods, or seat Thir Kings. 1670 Cotton Espernon i. i. 22 By that means [she] seated her self absolute Mistress of that Court. 1715 Pope Iliad I. Ess. Homer 2 There is also in Mankind a Spirit of Envy or Opposition which makes them uneasy to see others of the same Species seated far above them in a sort of Perfection. a 1763 W. King Polit. & Lit. Anecd. (1819) 185 He [Burnet] was a better pastor than any man who is now seated on the bishops' bench. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xxiv, I could ill have kept my seat in the high place where Heaven has been pleased to seat me. 1847 Tennyson Princess iii. 143, I find you here but in the second place, Some say the third..We will seat you highest.

    e. To put into a seat in a deliberative assembly.

1797 Burke Let. Affairs Ireland Wks. IX. 457 The new representative was at that time seated and installed by force and violence. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 165 He was summoned to parliament..and was seated in the place of the ancient Barons of Berkeley. 1845 Disraeli Sybil iv. vii, Many of whom he has succeeded in seating in the parliament of his country. 1866 Pall Mall Gaz. No. 378. 1341/1 Mr. Kinglake has been seated for Bridgewater.

    f. To find seats for; to accommodate with seats or sitting room; to assign seats to. Of a building, room, etc.: To afford sitting accommodation for.

1828–32 Webster, Seat,..to place in a church; to assign seats to. In New England..it is customary to seat families for a year or longer time; that is, assign and appropriate seats to their use. 1856 Merivale Rom. Emp. xli. (1871) V. 67 The first object..was to seat the greatest number of the people possible. 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 9 Sept. 2/2 Each theatre should be registered and advertised as capable of seating a specified number.

    2. pass. To be sitting, to be in a sitting posture.

1608 Shakes. Per. ii. iv. 7 When he was seated in A Chariot of an inestimable value. 1703 Tate Hymn, ‘While Shepherds watched’, While Shepherds watched their flocks by night All seated on the ground. 1791 Cowper Yardley Oak 139 Seated here On thy distorted root. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxiv, Osborne from his chair regarded Dobbin seated blank and silent opposite to him. 1875 W. S. Hayward Love agst. World i, Three young men are seated at breakfast.

    3. a. trans. To place as a resident in a district or country; to settle or establish (a people, a body of colonists, etc.) in a particular locality. Now rare.

1589 Warner Alb. Eng. Prose Addit. 161 Seated wee must bee, and here wee would be. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 62 Charles the Great Subdu'd the Saxons, and did seat the French Beyond the Riuer Sala. 1612 in Capt. Smith Map Virginia ii. 96 M{supr} West hauing seated his men at the Falles, presently returned... The President..followed him to the falles: where he found this company so inconsiderately seated, in a place not only subiect to the rivers invndation, but [etc.]. 1639 Fuller Holy War ii. xxvi. (1640) 77 The Carmelites..were first seated at Newenden in Kent. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 197 Providence, which so happily had seated me at the Brasils, as a Planter. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. x. (1782) I. 295 In the age of the Antonines, the Goths were still seated in Prussia. 1797 Washington Let. Writ. 1892 XIII. 406 If..they could have been first seated as tenants. 1910 Hirth in Encycl. Brit. VI. 191/1 Whether the Chinese were seated in their later homes from time immemorial,..or whether [etc.].

    † b. refl. To take up a permanent abode, to settle (in a place). Obs.

1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 112 Whose tenants to injoy the liberties granted to Nepolitans, did forsake their owne..to seate themselves there. 1639 Fuller Holy War v. v. (1640) 236 They wonne the Island of Rhodes from the Turks..and there seated themselves. 1755 Acts Assembly Pennsylv. (1762) II. 54 Many Persons residing in this Province have seated themselves on certain large Tracts of Land, neither having Property therein, or paying Rent for the same. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 693/1 At length, in 1638, the Dutch seated themselves here [Mauritius].

    † c. intr. for refl. To settle down permanently, to establish a residence, to fix or take up abode. Obs.

1622 Relat. Eng. Plant. Plymouth, New Eng. 4 Some of our people..desired..to travaile by Land into the Countrey,..to see whether it might be fit for vs to seate in or no. 1623 Bingham Xenophon's Anab. iii. ii. 48 If he perceiued, we prepared our selues to seat here. 1697 in W. S. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch. I. 44 Abundance of People were desirous to seat there. 1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 141 [This] would doubtless be a great prejudice to the Planters that should seat there.

transf. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 3 The knowledge of God seateth not in their hearts. 1655 Vaughan Silex Scint. i. 126 Thy root sucks but diseases; worms there seat And claim it for their meat.

    d. pass. To have one's ‘seat’ or mansion in a specified place.

1683 Evelyn Diary 13 Oct., A..gentleman, seated neere Worcester, and very curious in gardening. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. iii. Blasphemer's Warning (init.), In Kent we are told There was seated of old, A handsome young gentleman. 1859 Symonds' Diary (Camden) 75 note, Although the grandfather of Sir Richard became seated in Cornwall by his marriage with a coheiress of Trethurffe.

    4. trans. With a thing as object: To place in a ‘seat’ or situation. (rare exc. pass. as in 5.) a. To set or secure in its proper place; to fix in proper position on a base or support. Now only techn. Also intr. for refl. to lie, rest upon, and with other consts.

1605 B. Jonson Volpone ii. i, In youth it perpetually preserues, in age restores the complexion; seat's your teeth, did they dance like Virginall iacks, firme as a wall. [Cf. 1667 s.v. seated ppl. a. 1.] 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. 153 Clap into thy Furnace an iron Kettle, and let the bottom thereof seat upon the iron Barr. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 89/2 Seat the Shooe, fit it to the Foot [of a horse]. 1872 Spon's Dict. Engin. v. 1804 The slotted head of the common wood screw is frequently split when much force is required to seat it or to remove it. 1916 Hirshfeld & Ulbricht Steam Power xi. 207 The valves are all double-seated.., that is, they seat at both ends. 1963 C. R. Cowell et al. Inlays, Crowns, & Bridges iv. 41 This must be done quickly otherwise the cement will begin to set and the restoration will not seat accurately. 1972 L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations ix. 93 As the well-head seats on the previously set permanent guide structure and foundation-pile housing, it is latched and rigidly attached to the housing.

    b. To locate or establish in a specified place.

1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 143 He himselfe made choice of the city Neapolis..to seat his regall Palace in. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. xi. (1653) 183 Neither would she have seated the mouth in so eminent, open, and conspicuous a place. c 1750 Shenstone Elegy i. 30 In thy youthful soul Love's gentle tyrant seats his awful throne.

    † c. To found (a city). Obs. rare.

1612 Heywood Apol. for Actors i. 23 Thebes, seated by Cadmus. a 1657 W. Bradford Plymouth Plantation (1856) 368 Their neigbours of y⊇ Massachusets..had some years after seated a towne (called Hingam) on their lands.

    5. In pass., to have its seat, be situated. a. Of a country, town, house, etc.: To be situated in a certain position; to have a certain kind of situation (e.g. as regards salubrity or pleasantness).

1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 172 Euery house is not so seated, as it hath errable ground about it. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1144 Some darke deepe desert seated from the way, That knowes not parching heat, nor freezing cold, Will wee find out. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 83 A pleasant Vale seated belowe Some steepy Mount. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 284 The Mannor of Shurland seated Eastward from hence. 1633 Heywood Eng. Trav. iii. F 3 b, [The house] 'tis well seated, Rough-cast without, but brauely lined within. 1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Invent. §100 To..furnish Cities with water though never so high seated. 1700 Dryden Sigism. & Guisc. 221 The Garden, seated on the level Floor. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 93 Lands seated on Marle are usually very rich. 1857 Zoologist XV. 5618 The house was seated in a pretty garden. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 52 Seated on the confines of Europe and Asia, it [Byzantium] links the two shores of the Bosphorus. 1877 Huxley Physiogr. 213 London..is seated on clay.

    b. Hence of a person with reference to his dwelling. Also fig.

1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 8 They are as sicke that surfet with too much, as they that starue with nothing; it is no smal happinesse therefore to be seated in the meane. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 65 When we came vnto Bathy..we were seated a good league distant from his tabernacles. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster ii. i. (init.), You are most delicately seated here, full of sweet delight and blandishment! an excellent ayre! 1624 Wotton Elem. Archit. i. 5 By no meanes to build too nere a great Neighbour, which were in truth to bee as vnfortunately seated on the earth, as Mercurie is in the Heauens. 1803 Wellington To Lieut.-Gen. Stuart in Gurw. Desp. (1835) II. 73 It appears..that we shall have a war immediately, or a protracted negotiation with Scindiah and the Rajah of Berar, seated upon the Nizam's frontier.

    † c. Of a material object: To have a certain place (e.g. in the body, in a building). Obs.

c 1580 Sidney Ps. (1823) xxii. ix, Whose hart..Doth melt away, though it be inmost seated. 1632 G. Herbert Priest to Temple xiii. (1830) 35 A poor man's box conveniently seated, to receive the charity of well-minded people. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Eye, In Birds, and some other Creatures, the Eyes are so seated, as to take in near a whole Sphere.

    d. Of a seed or fruit (with transferred notion of sense 2): To be fixed on something, or in a particular place.

1857 T. Moore Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 8 The part of the vein on which the sorus is seated is called the receptacle. 1882–4 Cooke Brit. Fresh-w. Algæ I. 175 Dwarf males seated upon or about the oogonia.

    e. Of an immaterial thing, a quality, feeling, etc.: To have its seat or abode in a certain place.

1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 55 See what a grace was seated on his Brow. 1622 Fletcher Sea Voy. i. iii, The greatest plagues that humane nature suffers, Are seated here, wildnesse, and wants innumerable. 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 263 Their Inclinations, which are seated in the Heart. 1748 W. Melmoth Fitzosborne Lett. lii. (1749) II. 61 The latter [i.e generosity] is seated in the mind. 1820 Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 8 We there see..the same thoughts passing through the mind and seated on the lips.

    f. Of a disease: To have its seat in a certain part of the body. Also to be deeply seated: lit. to be situated far below the surface; hence (often fig.) to be firmly established in the system, to be beyond the reach of superficial remedies.

a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. xiii. §3 (1622) 140 His plague was seated into his bowells. 1647 N. Ward Simp. Cobler 6 Fiery diseases, seated in the spirit, embroile the whole frame of the body. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvi. 330 Spongy chancres..were seated on the inner lamella of the prepuce. 1871 Smiles Charac. vii. 212 note, The disease had become too deeply seated for recovery. 1893 W. R. Gowers Man. Dis. Nerv. Syst. (ed. 2) IV. 333 [Miliary tubercles are] seated in the pia mater.

    † 6. trans. To ‘plant’ with inhabitants, people, settle (a country). Obs. (App. N. Amer.)

1684 in Pennsylv. Arch. I. 85 Vpon Lands not Seated before in ye Dukes Time. 1776 C. Carroll Jrnl. Vis. Canada in B. Mayer Mem. (1845) 78 The country on each side of the St. Lawrence is level, rich, and thickly seated; indeed, so thickly seated, that the houses form almost one continued row. 1784 Washington Writ. 1891 X. 366 To see these lands seated by particular societies.

    7. To fix a seat on (a chair); to repair (trousers, a chair) by renewing or mending the seat.

1762 Foote Orators ii. (1780) 46 As I was sitting cross-legged on my shop-board, new seating a cloth pair of breeches. 1828–32 Webster, Seat,..to repair by making a seat new; as, to seat a garment. 1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 15 Apr. 14/1 Then the chair is handed over to the women to be ‘seated’.

    8. a. To furnish (a building, a room, etc.) with seats.

1818 Scott Rob Roy xx, A portion of which was seated with pews, and used as a church. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 69 The nave is now seated with two rows of low-backed benches. 1899 Eclectic Mag. Feb. 201 A..carriage which was seated for fifteen.

    b. (See quot.) Cf. 1 f.

1828–32 Webster, Seat,..to appropriate the pews in, to particular families; as, to seat a church.

Oxford English Dictionary