choir

[ kwahyuh r ]

/ kwaɪər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR choir ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

the part of a church occupied by the singers of the choir.
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.

Nearby words

choctaw, choctawhatchee, chog, chogyal, choice, choir, choir loft, choir school, choirboy, choirgirl, choirmaster

Origin of choir

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

Related forms

choir·like, adjective

Can be confused

choir quire¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for choir

But I was a choir geek, and then got frustrated and took an acting class and realized that was the thing for me.
Michael C. Hall on Going Drag for ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ and Exorcising ‘Dexter’|Marlow Stern|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The play of Sunday, the play of being angels in the choir, is not just a peripheral secondary marginal realm of activity.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween|Joseph Campbell|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was in the vestry where the choir was putting on its garments.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween|Joseph Campbell|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Surreally, a choir of high school students at the gate adjoining ours begins singing a hymnal.
Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction|Abby Haglage|May 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Lewis grew up in Florida, and sang in church, choir, and in school.
Norm Lewis, Broadway’s First Black ‘Phantom,’ on Racism, Heroes, and Dream Roles|Tim Teeman|March 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Round the choir is a row of chapels, which are wholly wanting to the nave.
Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. I. (of 2)|Dawson Turner
The tympana of the choir triforium arches are filled with plate tracery, quatrefoil and cusped.
Cathedral Cities of France|Herbert Marshall
To the east the high altar, to the west the choir, claim the greater part of our attention.
The Cathedrals of Northern Spain|Charles Rudy
The choir of this church is remarkable for the symmetry of its proportions.
Rouen, It's History and Monuments|Thodore Licquet
There was High Mass in the choir that day, and she knelt a little way down the nave, beside a pillar.
Long Will|Florence Converse

British Dictionary definitions for choir

choir

/ (kwaɪə) /

noun

an organized group of singers, esp for singing in church services

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
(as modifier)choir stalls

a number of instruments of the same family playing togethera brass choir

Also called: choir organ one of the manuals on an organ controlling a set of soft sweet-toned pipesCompare great (def. 21), swell (def. 16)

any of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology

Archaic spelling: quire

Derived Forms

choirlike, adjective

Word Origin for choir

C13 quer, from Old French cuer, from Latin chorus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012