CHAIR NOUN (PEOPLE AND SOCIETY)

A non-sexist way of saying 'chairman' or 'chairwoman'; a chairperson. Etymology: Formed by dropping the sex-specific part of chairman etc. An impersonal use of Chair (especially in the appeal of Chair! Chair! and in the phrase to address the chair) had existed for centuries and provided the precedent for this use. History and Usage: A usage which arose from the feminist movement in the mid seventies. Although disliked by some, it has become well established. It is interesting, though, that it has not produced derivatives: one finds chairpersonship of a committee, but only very rarely chairship. On the more general aspects of the arriviste's upward trajectory, however, such as the craft of...chairpersonship, he has much less to say. Nature 9 Dec. 1982, p. 550 She has annoyed the Black Sections by refusing to resign as chair of the party black advisory committee. Tribune 12 Sept. 1986, p. 7