sederunt: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
RareFormal, Archaic, Legal/Scots Law
Quick answer
What does “sederunt” mean?
A formal record or minutes of a meeting, especially one held by a Scottish court or presbytery.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A formal record or minutes of a meeting, especially one held by a Scottish court or presbytery.
A sitting of a Scottish court, council, or ecclesiastical assembly; more broadly, the official record of proceedings from such a sitting.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Used exclusively in Scottish and Scots Law contexts in the UK. Virtually unknown in American English.
Connotations
Historical, procedural, official record-keeping.
Frequency
Almost zero frequency outside Scotland and historical legal texts.
Grammar
How to Use “sederunt” in a Sentence
The [noun phrase] is recorded in the sederunt.The [institution] held a sederunt on [date].Vocabulary
Collocations
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Not used.
Academic
Used in historical studies of Scots Law or Scottish church governance.
Everyday
Not used.
Technical
Used in Scots Law for formal court records; used in the Church of Scotland for presbytery records.
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “sederunt”
- Using it as a verb (e.g., 'We sederunted yesterday').
- Assuming it has general English usage outside Scotland.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it is extremely rare and confined to specific Scottish legal and ecclesiastical contexts.
It is technically incorrect and highly marked. Using it outside its traditional Scottish institutional context would seem odd or pretentious.
It comes directly from Latin *sederunt*, meaning 'they sat', the third person plural perfect tense of *sedēre* ('to sit'). It was used as a heading for records indicating who was present (i.e., who sat in the meeting).
Yes, the plural is 'sederunts', referring to multiple such records or sittings.
A formal record or minutes of a meeting, especially one held by a Scottish court or presbytery.
Sederunt is usually formal, archaic, legal/scots law in register.
Sederunt: in British English it is pronounced /sɪˈdɛrənt/, and in American English it is pronounced /sɪˈdɛrənt/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “None”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a Scottish court that has SEATED (Latin *sederunt* means 'they sat') to debate; the record of their sitting is the SEDERUNT.
Conceptual Metaphor
DOCUMENT AS AN OFFICIAL SITTING
Practice
Quiz
In which context would you most likely encounter the word 'sederunt'?