different between orchestra vs choir

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin orch?stra, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ???????? (orkh?stra) (a derivative of ???????? (orkhéomai, “to dance”)).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???k?st??/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???k?st??/
• Hyphenation: or?ches?tra

Noun

orchestra (plural orchestras or (rare) orchestrae)

1. (music) A large group of musicians who play together on various instruments, usually including some from strings, woodwind, brass and/or percussion; the instruments played by such a group.
2. A semicircular space in front of the stage used by the chorus in Ancient Greek and Hellenistic theatres.
3. The area in a theatre or concert hall where the musicians sit, immediately in front of and below the stage, sometimes (also) used by other performers.

Usage notes

• In British English, "The orchestra are tuning up" is often used, implying the individual members. In the US, one would almost always hear "The orchestra is tuning up", implying a collective.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• carthorse, horsecart, rheocrats

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.k?s.t?a/

Verb

orchestra

1. third-person singular past historic of orchestrer

Anagrams

• torcheras

Italian

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek ???????? (orkh?stra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /or?k?s.tra/

Noun

orchestra f (plural orchestre)

1. orchestra
2. band
3. orchestra pit

Descendants

• ? Turkish: orkestra

Derived terms

• orchestrale
• orchestrare

Etymology 2

Verb

orchestra

1. inflection of orchestrare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• orchestra in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ???????? (orkh?stra).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /or?k?e?s.tra/, [?r?k?e?s?t??ä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /or?kes.tra/, [?r?k?st???]

Noun

orch?stra f (genitive orch?strae); first declension

1. orchestra (area in front of a stage)

Declension

First-declension noun, with locative.

Descendants

• English: orchestra
• French: orchestre
• Italian: orchestra
• Portuguese: orquestra
• Spanish: orquestra

References

• orchestra in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• orchestra in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• orchestra in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• orchestra in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia?^[1]
• orchestra in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• orchestra in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ur?kestra/

Noun

orchestra f (plural orchestre)

1. orchestra

Romanian

Etymology 1

From French orchestrer.

Verb

a orchestra (third-person singular present orchestreaz?, past participle orchestrat) 1st conj.

1. to orchestrate

Conjugation

Etymology 2

Noun

orchestra f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of orchestr?

English

Alternative forms

• quire (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English quer, quere, from Old French quer, from Latin chorus, from Ancient Greek ????? (khorós, “company of dancers or singers”). Modern spelling influenced by chorus and Modern French chœur. Doublet of chorus.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kwa??(?)/
• Rhymes: -a??(r)
• (US) IPA^(key): /kwa??/
• Rhymes: -a??
• Homophone: quire

Noun

choir (plural choirs)

1. Singing group; group of people who sing together; company of people who are trained to sing together.

2. (architecture) The part of a church where the choir assembles for song.
3. (Christian angelology) One of the nine ranks or orders of angels.

4. Set of strings (one per note) for a harpsichord.

Derived terms

• chorister
• Nikon choir

Related terms

• choral
• chorus
• quire

Translations

Verb

choir (third-person singular simple present choirs or quires, present participle choiring or quiring, simple past and past participle choired or quired)

1. (intransitive) To sing in concert.
   • 1859, The Presbyterian Magazine (volume 9, page 423)

Anagrams

• chiro, chiro-, chori, ichor

French

Etymology

From Middle French cheoir, from Old French cheoir, from Vulgar Latin *cad?re, from Latin cadere, present active infinitive of cad?, from Proto-Italic *kad?, from Proto-Indo-European *?h?d- (“to fall”). Compare Norman caeir, Franco-Provençal chêre, Occitan caire, Catalan caure, Italian cadere, Spanish caer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?wa?/
• Rhymes: -wa?

Verb

choir (defective) (past participle chu)

1. (literary) to fall

   Synonym: tomber

Conjugation

This is a defective verb, only conjugated in certain tenses.

Derived terms

• chute
• déchoir
• échoir
• méchoir
• rechoir

Further reading

• “choir” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [x???]

Noun

choir m

1. Lenited form of coir.