Siege Perilous

[ seej per-uh-luhs ]

noun

1. Arthurian Legend. a vacant seat at the Round Table that could be filled only by the predestined finder of the Holy Grail and was fatal to pretenders.

Siege Perilous

noun

1. (in Arthurian legend) the seat at the Round Table that could be filled only by the knight destined to find the Holy Grail and that was fatal to anyone else

Word History and Origins

Origin of Siege Perilous¹

First recorded in 1425–75; from Old French siege perilleus “dangerous seat”; siege ( def ), perilous ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Siege Perilous¹

from siege (in the archaic sense: a seat or throne)

Example Sentences

And when the hermit saw the Siege Perilous, he asked the king and all the knights why that siege was void.

From Project Gutenberg

Then she had marvel what knight it might be that durst adventure him to sit in the Siege Perilous.

From Project Gutenberg

One seat only long remained unoccupied, and that was the Siege Perilous.

From Project Gutenberg

The golden throne had become a "siege perilous," and she abdicated in favor of the grasshopper and his black and horrent visitor.

From Project Gutenberg

Let us have stranger castles than that of Usher, more dazzling chairs than the Siege Perilous.

From Project Gutenberg