sedan

sedan — noun

1. a closed four-wheel motor vehicle with a separate trunk at the rear, room for a

1.nounB1
Definition

a closed four-wheel motor vehicle with a separate trunk at the rear, room for a driver and up to four riders, and sold in both two-door and four-door styles

Example

Andrés bought a used sedan for his daily commute to work.

collocation: used sedan / buy a sedan

Talia's family sedan has enough room for five passengers and their suitcases.

collocation: family sedan

Common collocations
  • family sedan
  • luxury sedan
  • used sedan
  • four-door sedan
  • compact sedan
Synonyms
  • saloon

    British English term for the same type of car

  • four-door car

    descriptive phrase emphasising the number of doors

Antonyms
  • coupe

    typically has two doors and a lower roofline

  • SUV

    sport utility vehicle with higher ground clearance and more cargo space

Usage Note

In British English, this type of car is more commonly called a saloon.

Common Mistakes

I drive a sedan car.
I drive a sedan.
Sedan already names the car type; adding 'car' is redundant.
A coupe has four doors like a sedan.
A coupe usually has two doors, while a sedan has four.
Coupe and sedan differ in door count and roofline.

2. a portable covered chair for one person, carried on long poles by two or more pe

2.nounC1
Definition

a portable covered chair for one person, carried on long poles by two or more people, used in past centuries as a form of transport

Example

The museum display shows a sedan chair once used by a wealthy merchant in the 1700s.

collocation: sedan chair

Servants carried Soraya's grandmother in a sedan chair through the narrow streets of the old town.

passive pattern: be carried in a sedan chair

Common collocations
  • sedan chair
  • carried in a sedan chair
  • sedan chair bearers
Synonyms
  • litter

    a more general term; can be open or covered, for people or goods

  • palanquin

    an Asian covered litter, similar in design but culturally distinct

Usage Note

This sense is historical; the modern meaning refers almost exclusively to the car type (sense 1).

3. a city in northeastern France on the Meuse River, near the border with Belgium,

3.noun
Definition

a city in northeastern France on the Meuse River, near the border with Belgium, known for the Battle of Sedan in 1870

Example

The Battle of Sedan in 1870 was a turning point in the Franco-Prussian War.

proper noun: Battle of Sedan

Sedan lies on the Meuse River, close to the border with Belgium.

Usage Note

This is a place name, not a common noun. It is the historical origin of the car-type name (sense 1), as sedan chairs were associated with the city.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Sedan and saloon refer to the same type of car — a four-door vehicle with a separate boot — but sedan is the preferred term in American English while saloon is standard in British English. A coupe traditionally has two doors and a sportier, lower roofline, though some modern 'four-door coupes' blur the boundary. An SUV (sport utility vehicle) sits higher off the ground, offers more cargo space, and often has all-wheel drive, making it a common alternative for buyers who need more utility. For example: 'Hugo traded his coupe for a family sedan after his second child was born,' and 'Quan chose an SUV for mountain roads instead of a sedan.'

sedan ↗salooncoupe ↗SUV

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • sedan vs SUV
  • buy a sedan
  • drive a sedan
  • trade in a sedan

Etymology

ItalianFrenchEnglish

The word sedan entered English in the 1600s, probably from an Italian dialect word 'sedía' meaning 'chair'. The city of Sedan in France was known for making sedan chairs, which may have helped link the name to the vehicle. In the early 1900s, when the first enclosed cars appeared, they reminded people of sedan chairs, so the name was adopted for the car type.