Chair " (?), n. [OE. chaiere, chaere, OF. chaiere, chaere, F. chaire pulpit, fr. L. cathedra chair, armchair, a teachers or professors chair, Gr. ? down + ? seat, ? to sit, akin to E. sit. See Sit, and cf. Cathedral, chaise.]"

1. A movable single seat with a back.

2. An official seat, as of a chief magistrate or a judge, but esp. that of a professor; hence, the office itself.

The chair of a philosophical school. Whewell.

A chair of philology. M. Arnold.

3. The presiding officer of an assembly; a chairman; as, to address the chair.

4. A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles, or two-wheeled carriage, drawn by one horse; a gig. Shak.

Think what an equipage thou hast in air, And view with scorn two pages and a chair. Pope.

5. An iron block used on railways to support the rails and secure them to the sleepers.

Chair days, days of repose and age. -- To put into the chair, to elect as president, or as chairman of a meeting. Macaulay. -- To take the chair, to assume the position of president, or of chairman of a meeting.

Chair , v. t. [imp. & p. pr. Chaired (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Chairing.]

1. To place in a chair.

2. To carry publicly in a chair in triumph. [Eng.]

-- Webster's unabridged 1913