choir

[ kwahyuhr ]
See synonyms for: choirchoiredchoiring on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.

  2. any group of musicians or musical instruments; a musical company, or band, or a division of one: string choir.

  1. Architecture.

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

    • the part of a cruciform church east of the crossing.

  2. (in medieval angelology) one of the orders of angels.

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

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to sing or sound in chorus.

Idioms about choir

  1. preach to the choir. See entry at preach to the choir.

Origin of choir

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English quer, from Old French cuer, from Latin chorus “choir,” replacing Old English chor, from Latin; see chorus
  • Also Archaic, quire .

Other words from choir

  • choir·like, adjective

Words that may be confused with choir

Words Nearby choir

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use choir in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for choir

choir

/ (kwaɪə) /


noun
  1. 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 clergy: Compare chancel

    • (as modifier): choir stalls

  1. a number of instruments of the same family playing together: a brass choir

  2. 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)

  3. any of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology

Origin of choir

1
C13 quer, from Old French cuer, from Latin chorus
  • Archaic spelling: quire

Derived forms of choir

  • choirlike, adjective

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