subsellium

English

Etymology

Originates 1695–1705 from Latin subsellia (low seat or bench), from sub- (under) + sella (seat).

Noun

subsellium (plural subsellia)

1. A projecting ledge on the stalls in a church where persons might lean whilst standing during prayers; misericord.

References

• “subsellium”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Latin

Etymology

sub- (under) + sella (seat).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [sʊpˈsɛl.li.ũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [subˈsɛl.li.um]

Noun

subsellium n (genitive subselliī or subsellī); second declension

1. a low seat or bench
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.16:

     Quid quod adventū tuō ista subsellia vacuēfacta sunt? Quod omnēs cōnsulārēs, quī tibi persaepe ad caedem cōnstitūtī fuērunt, simul atque adsēdistī, partem istam subselliōrum nūdam atque inānem relīquērunt — quō tandem animō tibi ferundum putās?

     What of the fact that, upon your arrival, those benches have been emptied? That all the ex-consuls, who very often have been designated by you for slaughter, as soon as you took your seat, left that section of the benches bare and empty — at last, with that in mind, do you think you can endure it?

2. the bench (of a judge)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	subsellium	subsellia
genitive	subselliī subsellī1	subselliōrum
dative	subselliō	subselliīs
accusative	subsellium	subsellia
ablative	subselliō	subselliīs
vocative	subsellium	subsellia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: συψέλλιον (supséllion)
  • → Classical Syriac: ܣܦܣܠܐ
  • → Hebrew: סַפְסָל (safsal)

References

• “subsellium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “subsellium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "subsellium", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “subsellium”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “subsellium”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “subsellium”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.