English
chaise
Chaise comes from French chaise ‘chair, seat’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedreh₂1reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hédrā1reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἕδρα2‘seat’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαθέδρα3‘seat’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcathedra3‘seat’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chaiere4
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600chaire3‘chair’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentchaise2‘chair, seat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1814chaise2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἕδρα
- 2 Wiktionary, English chaise
- 3 Wiktionary, French chaise
- 4 Wiktionary, Middle French chaire
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, Jane Austen, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton: “But why is it necessary, said Edmund, that Crawford’s…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἕδρα‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedreh₂Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἕδραreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hédrāWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἕδραreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἕδραWiktionary, English chaise‘seat’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαθέδραWiktionary, French chaise‘seat’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcathedraWiktionary, French chaise‘seat’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chaiereWiktionary, Middle French chaire
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600chaireWiktionary, French chaise‘chair’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentchaiseWiktionary, English chaise‘chair, seat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1814chaiseWiktionary, English chaise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, Jane Austen, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton: “But why is it necessary, said Edmund, that Crawford’s…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’
president, set, size, sit, sitting, method, sell, seat, session, resident, settle, nest, siege, assess, possess, saddle, exodus, reside, niche, subsidy, residue, residual, nye, sedan, insidious, sediment, prasad, cathode, soot, sedentary, dissident, anode, beset, sedative, setter, obsess, presidio, sate, sedate, presidium, 93 more
through Ancient Greek ἕδρα ‘seat’
through Latin cathedra ‘seat’
through Old French chaiere
Today it means
noun An open, horse-drawn carriage for one or two people, usually with one horse and two wheels.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “chaise”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ἕδρα, French chaise, Middle French chaire. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / chaise