ex cathedra
1
9.9
- idiom
- /ɛks kəˈθiːdrə/
- Formal
:
ex cathedra
- In his address, the Bishop spoke ex cathedra on the importance of compassion in times of crisis.
- ex cathedra definition
Examples
-
In technical language, one should say: here we have an act of the ordinary Magisterium of the Supreme Pontiff, an act therefore which is not a solemn definition ex cathedra, even though in terms of content, a doctrine is presented which is to be considered definitive.
Academic text (2002) -
No resolution was ever obtained, so the church obviously imposed no answer ex cathedra.
Academic text (1991) -
In this morass, clerics began losing their prestige and respect and, like doctors, found it challenging to speak ex cathedra.
Academic text (2014) -
She was an English major at the University of Pennsylvania; I hope you know, before she got the Chicago MBA that doubtless qualifies her to speak ex cathedra on health care economics.
Blog text (4) -
Because it is very difficult to informally determine when the pope and bishops all agree on a matter of faith and morals, in practice, infallibility is only applied to statements of ecumenical councils and statements made by the pope ex cathedra.
Blog text (29) -
The Pope declared, ex cathedra, that the new doctrine would guide the faithful for generations.
-
When he speaks ex cathedra, his words are considered infallible and carry great weight.
Synonyms
195
3.7
With someone's permission or official authority to act for them
A decision or order from a higher authority
Surface Forms
Morphology
ex + cathedra
Literally 'ex cathedra' translates as 'from the chair', and if a learner knows 'ex' = from and 'cathedra' = the bishop's/official chair they can plausibly infer the sense of authoritative, official pronouncement. However, this is a Latin ecclesiastical idiom whose pragmatic meaning (absolute official authority) depends on cultural and specialized knowledge rather than simple compositional rules, so it is not fully predictable for a typical B1 learner.
Etymology
Ex cathedra comes from old church practice: ex means 'from' and cathedra is the special chair a bishop sat in. When a bishop spoke from that chair people treated his words as having full power, so the phrase now means 'with full official authority'.