cátedra

See also: càtedra

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• cathedra, cáthedra (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.?

Proto-Hellenic *kətá

Ancient Greek κατά (katá)

Proto-Indo-European *sed-der.

Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂

Proto-Hellenic *hédrā

Ancient Greek ἕδρα (hédra)

Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor.

Latin cathedralbor.

Portuguese cátedra

Learned borrowing from Latin cathedra. Doublet of cadeira.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.te.dɾɐ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.tɨ.dɾɐ/ [ˈka.tɨ.ðɾɐ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.tɨ.dɾɐ/ [ˈka.tɨ.ðɾɐ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.tɨ.dɾɐ/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -atedɾɐ, (Portugal) -atɨdɾɐ
• Hyphenation: cá‧te‧dra

Noun

cátedra f (plural cátedras)

1. (university slang) chair; professorship (the office of a full professor, one who is not an associate professor)
2. (ecclesiastical) the seat or office of a high-ranked member of the clergy

Related terms

• catedral
• catedrático

Further reading

• “cátedra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cátedra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cathedra from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Doublet of the inherited cadera.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkatedɾa/ [ˈka.t̪e.ð̞ɾa]
• Rhymes: -atedɾa
• Syllabification: cá‧te‧dra

Noun

cátedra f (plural cátedras)

1. professorship
2. seminar room

Derived terms

• libertad de cátedra
• poner cátedra
• sentar cátedra

Related terms

• catedral
• catedrático

Further reading

• “cátedra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025