1. A deliberative assembly’s presiding officer (the chair calls for order). See PRESIDE.
2. The presiding officer’s seat (take the chair).
3. The officer who heads an organization (the treasurer reports directly to the chair).
— Also termed chairman (of a male chair, in senses 1 & 3); chairwoman (of a female chair, in senses 1 & 3); chairperson (in senses 1 & 3); moderator (in sense 1); president (in senses 1 & 3); presiding officer (in sense 1); speaker (in sense 1). — chair, vb.
“The term the chair refers to the person in a meeting who is actually presiding at the time, whether that person is the regular presiding officer or not. The same term also applies to the presiding officer’s station in the hall from which he or she presides, which should not be permitted to be used by other members as a place from which to make reports or speak in debate during a meeting….” Henry M. Robert, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised § 47, at 433 (10th ed. 2000).
chair by decree. A chair appointed by an outside authority rather than elected by the deliberative assembly being presided over.
chair pro tempore. A chair elected or appointed during or in anticipation of the regular presiding officer’s (or officers’) absence from the chair, and whose service ends when a regular presiding officer resumes the chair. — Often shortened to chair pro tem. See PRO TEMPORE.
