choir

[ kwahyuh r ]
/ kwaɪər /

noun

a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.
any group of musicians or musical instruments; a musical company, or band, or a division of one: string choir.
Architecture.
  1. the part of a church occupied by the singers of the choir.
  2. the part of a cruciform church east of the crossing.
(in medieval angelology) one of the orders of angels.

adjective

professed to recite or chant the divine office: a choir monk.

verb (used with or without object)

to sing or sound in chorus.

Origin of choir

1250–1300; Middle English quer < Old French cuer < Latin chorus chorus; replacing Old English chor choir < Latin

OTHER WORDS FROM choir

choir·like, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH choir

choir quire1

Example sentences from the Web for choir

British Dictionary definitions for choir

choir
/ (kwaɪə) /

noun

an organized group of singers, esp for singing in church services
  1. the part of a cathedral, abbey, or church in front of the altar, lined on both sides with benches, and used by the choir and clergyCompare chancel
  2. (as modifier)choir stalls
a number of instruments of the same family playing together a brass choir
Also called: choir organ one of the manuals on an organ controlling a set of soft sweet-toned pipes Compare great (def. 21), swell (def. 16)
any of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology
Archaic spelling: quire

Derived forms of choir

choirlike, adjective

Word Origin for choir

C13 quer, from Old French cuer, from Latin chorus