Chairman

How to spell chairman

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce chairman

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does chairman mean?

1. nounThe person who presides over a meeting, committee, or governing board of a company or organisation.

Chairman in a sentence

• The chairman called the board meeting to order at nine.

• As chairman of the committee, he set the agenda for each session.

Where does chairman come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound formed from 'chair' and 'man'. The 'chair' element traces back through Old French 'chaiere' to the Latin 'cathedra', meaning 'seat', the same root that gives us 'cathedral', the church that holds a bishop's official seat. From the seventeenth century onward the chair came to stand symbolically for the position of authority occupied by the person presiding over a meeting, so that to 'take the chair' meant to lead the proceedings. The word 'chairman' was then coined in the mid-1600s to name that presiding person, literally the man who occupies the chair of authority. The spelling is simple because both parts are familiar everyday words; the only thing to watch is that it is written as one solid word, not 'chair man'. In modern usage gender-neutral alternatives such as 'chair' or 'chairperson' often replace it, but 'chairman' remains common in formal and corporate contexts.

How the word is built

• chair (seat of authority)
• man (person, originally adult male)