Episcopal seat

Etymology and definition

The word cathedral, as the seat of a bishop, is found in most languages; however in Europe a cathedral church can be referred to as a duomo (in Italian) or Dom (e.g. German, Dutch, etc.), from the Latin term domus ecclesiae (house of the church) or domus episcopalis (episcopal house). While the terms are not synonymous (a duomo is a collegiate church, similar to the English "minster") many cathedral churches are also collegiate churches, so that duomo, and Dom, have become the common names for a cathedral in those countries. It is also common in parts of the Iberian Peninsula to use Sé (in Portuguese), and Seu (in Catalan, with its Spanish form Seo), all of them from the Latin term episcopalis sedes, meaning "episcopal seat".