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chœur

Etymology and origin of the French word chœur

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1120, Cambridge Psalter
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (χορός)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kœʁ/[1]

Forms

chœur m (plural chœurs)[1] Old French cuer (about 1120), quer (about 1150); chore and chœur from 1568, after Latin.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is an adaptation, made at different times, of Latin chorus (“dance; band of dancers and singers; chorus of tragedy”),[3][2][5][6] from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “dance; dancers; dancing place”);[3][2] Wiktionary calls it semi-learned, a doublet of chorus.[1] Rey hesitates between relating “khoros” to “khôros” “open space” and, through the idea of an enclosure, to “khortos” “courtyard”, from an Indo-European root “*gher-” also behind Latin hortus (“garden”).[2] The sense “part of a church” comes from Christian Latin (Rule of Saint Benedict, 818–819), from the clergy who sang around the altar.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cambridge Psalter (about 1120) has li cuers des apostles, rendering the Te Deum's apostolorum chorus;[3][2] the Voyage of Saint Brendan (about 1120) applies it to birds singing hymns.[3]

Semantic evolution

About 1150 (Wace) quer was the part of a church where the altar stands and the clergy sing, whence enfant de chœur (1350, enfant du cuer; 1530).[3][2] In 1568 the Renaissance took it up again as a term of the ancient theatre (Le Roy's chore) and of modern tragedy (Garnier), as in the choruses of Athalie.[3][2][7]

In 1704 it named a piece of music sung by several voices, and later a body of singers (les chœurs de l'Opéra).[3][2] By extension it is a combined sound (le chœur des oiseaux, 1846) and a group united in one attitude, whence en chœur “together” (1869).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – Cuer des apostles in the Cambridge Psalter.[3]
  • c. 1150 – Quer “choir of a church”, in Wace.[3]
  • 1350 – Enfant du cuer.[2]
  • 1568 – The chorus of a tragedy; the spelling chœur.[3]
  • 1704 – A choral piece.[3]
  • 1869 – En chœur.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A choir, chorus (of singers): un chœur d'enfants, chef de chœur.[8][1]
  2. A chorus, choral piece.[8][9]
  3. (architecture) The choir (of a church); enfant de chœur: altar boy.[1][2]
  4. (theatre) The chorus (of Greek tragedy).[1][7]
  5. En chœur: in chorus, all together.[2][9]

Word family

  • choral
  • chorale
  • choriste
  • chorus
  • chorégraphie
  • Ancient Greek χορός (khorós)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 651b
  7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Chœur.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/ch%C5%93ur. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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