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Webster 1913 Edition


Choir

Choir

,
Noun.
[OE.
quer
, OF.
cuer
, F.
chœur
, fr. L.
chorus
a choral dance, chorus, choir, fr. Gr. [GREEK], orig. dancing place; prob. akin to [GREEK] inclosure, L.
hortus
garden, and E.
yard
. See
Chorus
.]
1.
A band or organized company of singers, especially in church service.
[Formerly written also
quire
.]
2.
That part of a church appropriated to the singers.
3.
(Arch.)
The chancel.
Choir organ
(Mus.)
,
one of the three or five distinct organs included in the full organ, each separable from the rest, but all controlled by one performer; a portion of the full organ, complete in itself, and more practicable for ordinary service and in the accompanying of the vocal choir.
Choir screen
,
Choir wall
(Arch.)
,
a screen or low wall separating the choir from the aisles.
Choir service
,
the service of singing performed by the choir.
T. Warton.

Webster 1828 Edition


Choir

CHOIR

, n.
1.
A collection of singers, especially in divine service, in a church.
2.
Any collection of singers.
3.
That part of a church appropriated for the singers, separated from the chancel and the nave. In congregational and some other churches, the singers are placed in certain seats in the galleries.
4.
In nunneries, a large hall adjoining to the body of the church, separated by a grate, where the nuns sing the office.

Definition 2024


choir

choir

See also: chóir

English

Alternative forms

Noun

choir (plural choirs)

  1. Singing group; group of people who sing together; company of people who are trained to sing together.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, [], down the nave to the western door. [] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.
    The church choir practices Thursday nights.
  2. The part of a church where the choir assembles for song.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.
  3. (Christian angelology) One of the nine ranks or orders of angels.
    Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones are three of the choirs of angels.
  4. Set of strings (one per note) for a harpsichord.

Translations

Derived terms

Related terms

Anagrams


French

Etymology

From Old French cheoir, from Vulgar Latin *cadēre, from Latin cadere, present active infinitive of cadō. Compare Franco-Provençal chêre, Occitan caire, Italian cadere.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃwaʁ/
  • Rhymes: -waʁ

Verb

choir (defective) (past participle chu)

  1. (literary) to fall

Conjugation

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

Synonyms

Derived terms


Irish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [xɛɾʲ]

Noun

choir m

  1. Lenited form of coir.

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
coir choir gcoir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.