Etymologically
Log in

chorus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 14:22. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkɔː.rəs/, US /ˈkɔːr.əs/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin chorus (“a round dance, band of dancers and singers”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “round dance, dancing place, band of dancers”),[2][3][4] a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from a root meaning to enclose, if the first sense was an enclosed dancing floor.[3][2] It is related to choir.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In drama, a person who speaks the prologue and comments on the action: 1561.[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

The chorus of Greek drama, an organized band of singers and dancers, and the song it sang, are from 1606.[7] The musical senses came later: a refrain from 1599, in Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels, a choir from 1656, in Blount's Glossographia, and a vocal composition from 1744.[2] The simultaneous singing or speaking of many people is from 1711,[7] and of other sounds, such as laughter, from 1735.[7] The verb is from 1826.[5] In Cornish dialect a chorus was a feast.[8]

Timeline

  • 1561 – a speaker of the prologue.[2][7]
  • 1599 – a refrain.[2]
  • 1606 – the chorus of Greek drama.[7]
  • 1656 – a choir.[2]
  • 1711 – simultaneous singing.[7]
  • 1744 – a choral composition.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large group of singers, or a piece of music written for such a group.
  2. A group of singers or dancers who perform together, as distinct from the principals.
  3. A refrain in which others join a soloist, or the repeated main section of a song.
  4. Something said or done by many people at once: a chorus of protest.
  5. In classical drama, a group of actors commenting on the action.

Verb

  1. To sing or say together.

Word family

  • chorus frog
  • chorus girl
  • choir
  • choral
  • choreographer
  • choreography
  • choreutic
  • chorine
  • chorister
  • quire
  • carol

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)