What does faldstool mean?
A faldstool is a folding chair or stool, characteristically low and without a back. Its most familiar modern role is ceremonial: in Anglican and certain other liturgical churches, the faldstool is the movable desk or stand at which a bishop kneels or sits when presiding away from the cathedral throne, making it a fixture of ordinations, royal weddings, and other solemn services. Beyond the sanctuary, the term historically denoted an ordinary portable folding seat — a practical piece of furniture known since Anglo-Saxon times. Today 'faldstool' reads as a formal, traditional word, most likely met in church architecture, liturgy, or accounts of state occasions such as coronations, where its use is carefully prescribed. Its longevity — the word has been in English for well over a millennium — makes it a small but vivid link between everyday medieval furniture and present-day religious ceremony.
nounA folding chair or stool without a back; in ecclesiastical use, a movable desk at which a bishop kneels or sits during services.
- A folding chair or stool, typically without a back.
- In Anglican and some other liturgical churches, a movable desk or stand at which a bishop kneels or sits when not on the throne.
"The bishop knelt at the faldstool to lead the evening prayers."
"She unfolded the canvas faldstool and settled in at the edge of the campsite."
"During the ordination, the bishop sat at the faldstool near the altar rather than on the cathedra."
Regular plural; used both for multiple pieces of furniture and for the several faldstools provided in larger churches.
"Six faldstools were arranged before the altar for the visiting clergy."
The word 'faldstool' is over a thousand years old — Old English speakers were already calling their folding stools 'faldstools' long before bishops borrowed them for prayer.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of faldstool
Faldstool comes from Old English faldstōl, meaning a folding stool, formed from the Germanic root *falthan ('to fold') combined with stōl ('stool, seat'). It thus belongs to the oldest layer of native English vocabulary, cognate with words like fold and stool themselves. The word survived continuously through Middle English into Modern English, acquiring its specialized liturgical sense as folding seats and desks came to be used by bishops in church services.
How faldstool is actually used
Chiefly encountered in ecclesiastical contexts today; the plain furniture sense is now rare and somewhat antiquarian. The word carries a formal, traditional register.
Easily confused with faldstool
A prie-dieu is a kneeling desk with a high shelf for books and often a kneeler beneath it, whereas a faldstool is essentially a low, backless folding seat or desk.