Entry: ex cathedra (n.)
In context: "Hal is, at seventeen, as of 10/Y.D.A.U., judged ex cathedra the fourth-best played under age eighteen in the United States of America, and the sixth-best on the continent, by those athletic-organizing bodies duly charged with the task of ranking."
Definition: Latin phr. ex cathedrâ, ‘from the chair’, i.e. in the manner of one speaking from the seat of office or professorial chair, with authority; also used attrib. = officially uttered. So †in cathedrâ.
Other: 1673 H. Hickman Hist. Quinq-articularis Epist. sig. A3v, When they can neither say, that the Pope was misinformed, or that he was not in Cathedra.
Made me think about the concept of papal infallibility. The ever-helpful Wikipedia entry was useful, especially a particularly relevant section.
SNOOT score: 2
Page:155
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Definitive Jest is a vocabulary-building and SNOOT-approved word-of-the-day blog centered around David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
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