armchair

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A chair with supports for the arms or elbows.

   There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker arm-chairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had also emerged some Indian clubs,[…]; and all these articles[…]made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

2. 2
   noun

   A position removed from that which one is

   Evaluating possible etymologies requires a significant amount of knowledge about the speakers' lived reality […] for instance, the semantic connection between some species of plant and its use in traditional medicine may be fully transparent to a native speaker, but harder to understand from the perspective of a linguist's armchair.

3. 3
   adj

   Remote from actual involvement, including a person retired from previously active involvement.

   armchair travels

4. 4
   adj

   Unqualified or uninformed but yet giving advice, especially on technical issues, such as law, architecture, medicine, military theory, or sports; relating to such advice.

   He's just an armchair lawyer who thinks he knows a lot about the law because he reads a legal blog.

5. 5
   verb

   To create based on theory or general knowledge rather than data.

   Research for program's subject matter is like mining gold. The more raw material we have, the more likely we are going to find gold nuggets. But this step is often overlooked and a program is "armchaired" from the office of the vice-president or vice-president of sales.

6. 6
   verb

   To theorize based on analysis of data that was gathered previously; to reflect.

   In past years, we administered this questionnaire and gave the results to the president who sat at a conference table with top management and armchaired some answers.

7. 7
   noun

   chair with a support on each side for arms

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- Proto-Indo-European *h₂érmos Proto-Germanic *armaz Proto-West Germanic *arm Old English earm Middle English arm English arm Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρᾱ (hédrā) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair English armchair From arm + chair.