choir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kwaɪə(ɹ)/, /kwɑə(ɹ) ~ kwɑː(ɹ)/ (UK); /kwaɪɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English quer, borrowed from Old French cuer (“choir of a church”) (also quer),^[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin chorus (“body of church singers; part of a church”),^[2][5] from Latin chorus (“band of dancers, chorus”) (see chorus),^[3][2] from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The part of a church where the singers sit: 1297 in the OED, about 1300 (queor) in Etymonline and Barnhart.^[6][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The clergy of a cathedral singing the services is from about 1300,^[6] and the band of singers in church from about 1380 (about 1400 in Etymonline, as quyre).^[6][3] Any organized company of singers is from before 1553,^[6] and Hoad dates the general sense to the 16th century.^[4] The spelling choir, assimilated to Latin chorus and French chœur, was established in the 17th century (1643 in Barnhart, in Cromwell's letters),^[4][2][7] but the pronunciation has not changed;^[3] the spelling quire survives in the English Prayer Book.^[8]

Timeline

• 1297 – the choir of a church.^[6]
• c. 1380 – a band of church singers.^[6]
• before 1553 – any company of singers.^[6]
• 1643 – the spelling choir.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An organized group of singers, especially one that performs in church services.
2. The part of a church or cathedral used by the choir and clergy, in the chancel.
3. A group of musical instruments of the same family.

Verb

1. To sing in chorus.

Word family

• choirlike
• antechoir
• choirboy
• choirgirl
• choirmaster
• retrochoir
• chorister

Related words

• choral
• chorus
• quire

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press