orchestra

Forms

orchēstra f (genitive orchēstrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra, “space where the chorus danced”),^[2][1] from ὀρχέομαι (orkhéomai, “to dance”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in his Menippean Satires, mentions the orchestra of a Greek theatre before the piper begins to play.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In a Greek theatre it was the space in front of the stage where the chorus performed;^[2] in a Roman theatre it held the seats of the senators and other dignitaries, and an inscription of the late Republic already forbids others to sit there during the games.^[2][5] Vitruvius, Suetonius and Juvenal use it in this sense, and in poetry it could stand for the senate itself.^[5]

English took it c. 1600 for the area of the ancient theatre; the sense “group of musicians” is recorded from 1720, from the place they sit in relation to the stage.^[4]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the Greek theatre.^[2][3]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius places the senators' seats in the orchestra.^[5][3]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of the senators' seats.^[5][3]
• c. 1600 – English borrows it for the area of the ancient theatre.^[4]
• 1720 – English uses it for a group of musicians.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. In a Greek theatre, the space in front of the stage where the chorus performed.^[2]
2. In a Roman theatre, the part with the seats of the senators and other dignitaries.^[2][5]
3. (poetic) The senate.^[5]

Related words

• scaena
• English orchestra

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press