choral

Forms

choral (feminine chorale, masculine plural choraux, feminine plural chorales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin choralis (“belonging to the choir of a church, meant for liturgical chant”), recorded from the early 12th century.^[2][3] The Latin word is a derivative of Latin chorus (“choir”).^[2][3][1][4]

The noun “hymn” of 1836 is borrowed from German Choral (“hymn, chant”), shortened from Choralgesang (“choral song”), itself a calque of Medieval Latin cantus choralis.^[2][3][5] Bloch and Wartburg also take the word from German, where it was formed at the time of the Reformation.^[6] The Grand Robert and the Grand Larousse make it a learned derivative of the Latin word.^[7][8] The usual Old French form was chorial, derived from chœur.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is isolated: Old Walloon clers coraux “clerks attached to the service of a church choir”, in a Liège text of 1331.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In 1743 the Dictionnaire de Trévoux gives the plural choraux “choirboys” as an old word.^[2][3] Its spread in music in the 19th century came from German: in 1836 Landais explains that Germans call choral what the French call chœur.^[2][3] The adjective, “relating to singing by a group”, spread from 1845 (the BHVF has 1835 from the Petit Robert).^[2][3][9]

The masculine noun named all the singers of a church (1866) and then a choral society (1901), but in that sense it was displaced by the feminine chorale (1910), short for société chorale.^[3][2] English chorale (1828) is from German Choral.^[5]

Timeline

• 1331 – Clers coraux in a Liège text.^[2][3]
• 1703 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for choral.^[6]
• 1743 – The Trévoux dictionary lists choraux “choirboys” as an old word.^[2]
• 1827 – The Grand Robert's date for the adjective.^[7][10]
• 1836 – Landais records the noun “German hymn”.^[2][8]
• 1845 – Œuvres chorales in Francis Wey.^[2]
• 1901 – Used as a noun for a choral society.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to a choir or to choruses: chant choral, société chorale.^[10][8][2]
2. (antiquity) Relating to the chorus of ancient Greece.^[2]

Noun

1. A hymn sung by a choir, especially a Lutheran chorale.^[10][8][1]
2. A piece for organ or another instrument on the theme of such a hymn.^[10][8]

Word family

• chorale

Related words

• chœur
• choriste
• chorus

Usage notes

The masculine plural of the adjective is choraux or chorals, and the plural of the noun is chorals.^[10][8] The feminine noun chorale “choir, choral society” is recorded by the Académie in 1932.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 652b
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert