Etymologically
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choir

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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

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