χορός Ancient Greek · revision 15418

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /kʰo.rós/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /xoˈros/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /xoˈros/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''χορός''' (khorós) ''m'' (genitive χοροῦ); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*kʰorós]].^(Wiktionary) Its further origin is disputed, partly because it is not certain whether the original sense was “round dance” or “dancing-place”, so Frisk calls every explanation hypothetical.^(Frisk 1960) A long-standing view connects it with [[m|grc|χόρτος|tr=khórtos|t=enclosure]] and Latin [[m|la|cohors]], from Indo-European [[ine-pro|*ǵʰer-|t=to seize, enclose]], with an original sense of an enclosed place or a ring of dancers holding hands;^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) others derive it from a root *ǵʰer- “to yearn for”, that of [[m|grc|χαίρω|tr=khaírō|t=to rejoice]].^(Wiktionary) It matches [[lt|žãras|t=row, band]] exactly in form.^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ Ancient writers also linked it with joy: Plato in the Laws derives it from [[m|grc|χαρά|tr=kharā́|t=joy]], and later grammarians from [[m|grc|χῶρος|tr=khôros|t=place]] or from [[m|grc|χείρ|tr=kheír|t=hand]].^(Etygram)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Homer it is a dance, a dancing-place and a throng of dancers: Paris looks as if he had just left the dance (''Iliad'' 3.394), and the Phaeacians smooth a floor for the dance (''Odyssey'' 8.260).^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From Pindar and Herodotus on it is a group of dancers and singers performing in honour of a god, and at Athens the chorus of tragedy and comedy and the circular chorus of the dithyramb.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Figuratively it meant a row, such as a row of teeth in Aristophanes, a circle of people, a chorus of stars, and in Plato a class of things.^(CGL 2021)

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+ Latin borrowed it as [[m|la|chorus]].^(Saalfeld 1874) Modern Greek ''χορός'' “dance” continues the ancient word, while its senses “chorus, choir” are learned.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' use it for a dance and a dancing-place.^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for a band of singers and dancers.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus and Aristophanes use it for the chorus of a play.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it figuratively for a class of things.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * Modern Greek – ''χορός'' means a dance.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A choral [[m|en|dance]], a dance performed by a group.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A dancing-ground, dance-floor.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ # A group of dancers or singers, a [[m|en|choir]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # The [[m|en|chorus]] of a drama or of a dithyramb.^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A row; a circle or band of people; a class of things.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἄχορος|tr=ákhoros]]

+ * [[χορεύω|tr=khoreúō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|chorus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}