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chorus - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

The noun is borrowed from Medieval Latin chorus (“church choir”), Latin chorus (“group of dancers and singers; dance”), from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “group of dancers and singers, choir, chorus; dance accompanied by song; round dance”);[1] further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to encircle, enclose”) or *ǵʰoros. Doublet of choir, chore, and hora.

The plural form chori is from Latin chorī, from Ancient Greek χοροί (khoroí).

The verb is derived from the noun.[2]

chorus (plural choruses or (dated) chorusses or (rare) chori)

  1. (Ancient Greece, historical)
    1. A group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song.

      • 1603, Plutarch, “Why the Prophetesse Pythia Giveth No Answers Now from the Oracle in Verse or Meeter”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 1199:

        [W]ee would that the voice and dialect of the propheteſſe Pythia, reſembling the ſpeech of a Chorus in a tragedie from a ſcaffold, ſhould pronounce her anſwers not in ſimple, plaine, and triviall termes, without any grace to ſet them out, but with Poeticall magnificence of high and ſtately verſes, diſguiſed as it were with metaphors and figurative phraſes, yea, and that which more is, with ſound of flute and hautboies: […]

    2. A song performed by the singers of such a group.
  2. (by extension, chiefly British, theater, historical) An actor who reads the prologue and epilogue of a play, and sometimes also acts as a commentator or narrator; also, a portion of a play read by this actor.
  3. A group of singers performing together; a choir; specifically, such a group singing together in a musical, an opera, etc., as distinct from the soloists; an ensemble.

    The performance of the chorus was awe-inspiring and exhilarating.

    • 2008 March 23, Peggy Orenstein, “Mixed Messenger”, in The New York Times‎[1]:

      But the rise of multiracialism is not all Kumbaya choruses and “postracial” identity. The N.A.A.C.P. criticized the census change, fearing that since so few in the black community are of fully African descent, mass attrition to a mixed-race option could threaten political clout and Federal financing.

  4. (by extension) A group of people in a performance who recite together.
  5. An instance of singing by a group of people.

    • 1848, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings; […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book I (The Norman Visitor, the Saxon King, and the Danish Prophetess), page 6:

      But once out of sight of those fearful precincts, the psalm was forgotten, and again broke, loud, clear, and silvery, the joyous chorus.

  6. (figuratively)
    1. A group of people, animals, or inanimate objects who make sounds together.

      a chorus of crickets    a chorus of whiners

      • 2017 August 9, Shane Cashman, “The Moral History of Air-Conditioning”, in The Atlantic‎[2]:

        More than just an appliance, the air conditioner is a memento mori. […] As summer proceeds, listen to the chorus of machines humming in the windows, outside the houses, atop the office buildings.

    2. The noise or sound made by such a group.

      a chorus of shouts and catcalls

      • 1848, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings; […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book I (The Norman Visitor, the Saxon King, and the Danish Prophetess), pages 18–19:

        As she came to the last line [of a song], her soft low voice seemed to awaken a chorus of sprightly horns and trumpets, and certain other wind instruments peculiar to the music of that day.

  7. (figuratively)
    1. A group of people who express a unanimous opinion.

      • 2022 November 2, “Windfall Taxes Are All the Rage. They Shouldn’t Be.”, in The Washington Post‎[4]:

        So far, more than a dozen EU countries have either enacted a windfall tax or said they’re planning to. […] On Monday, US President Joe Biden joined the chorus, accusing oil companies of “war profiteering” and threatening them with big new levies if they fail to bring down consumer prices.

      • 2022 November 11, Hugo Lowell, “Rift in Trump’s inner circle over 2024 presidential campaign announcement”, in The Guardian‎[5]:

        Donald Trump’s top political staffers at Mar-a-Lago are pressing him to move forward with his planned 2024 presidential campaign announcement next week but a chorus of allies are suggesting delaying until after the Senate runoff in Georgia in December, according to sources familiar with the matter.

    2. The opinion expressed by such a group.

      • 2019 February 17, Jamiles Lartey, “Popular book on marijuana's apparent dangers is pure alarmism, experts say”, in The Guardian‎[6]:

        On Friday, 75 scholars and clinicians signed an open letter, joining a chorus of disagreement with Berenson by arguing that “establishing marijuana as a causal link to violence at the individual level is both theoretically and empirically problematic”.

  8. (music)
    1. A piece of music, especially one in a larger work such as an opera, written to be sung by a choir in parts (for example, by sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses).
    2. A part of a song which is repeated between verses to emphasize the song's content; a refrain.

      The catchiest part of most songs is the chorus.

      • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “An Account of Mr. Gamaliel Pickle. […]”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC, page 10, column 1:

        [T]he commodore, the lieutenant, and landlord, joined in the chorus, repeating this elegant ſtanza: […]

      • 1862, T[homas] Oliphant, John Thomas, arranger, “No. 15. Nos Galan. New Year’s Eve. [Deck the Halls]”, in Welsh Melodies: With Welsh and English Poetry, London: Addison, Hollier & Lucas, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 140:

        See the flowing bowl before us, / Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la! / Strike the harp and join the chorus. / Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

    3. The main part of a pop song played after the introduction.
    4. A group of organ pipes or organ stops intended to be played simultaneously; a compound stop; also, the sound made by such pipes or stops.
    5. (often attributively) A feature or setting in electronic music that makes one instrument sound like many.
    6. (Christianity) A simple, often repetitive, song intended to be sung in a group during informal worship.
    7. (jazz) The improvised solo section in a small group performance.

      • 2002, Thomas E. Larson, History and Tradition of Jazz, Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, →ISBN:

        Of additional interest is the riff in the second chorus, which was later copied by Joe Garland and recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra as "In the Mood," becoming the biggest hit of the Swing Era.

      • 2014, Thomas Brothers, “‘Some Kind of a God’”, in Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism, New York, N.Y., London: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 299:

        Jazz solos in the 1920s are much more about variety and discontinuity than unity and coherence. The explosive introduction, the instrutable and tender scat-clarinet dialogue, the spritely piano chorus, and the majestic trumpet chorus—contrast is far more important than unity.

group of singers performing together — see also choir

instance of singing by a group of people

group of people or animals who make sounds together

noise or sound made by such a group

piece of music, especially one in a larger work such as an opera, written to be sung by a choir in parts

part of a song repeated between verses — see also refrain

main part of a pop song played after the introduction

group of organ pipes or organ stops intended to be played simultaneously

feature or setting in electronic music that makes one instrument sound like many

simple, often repetitive, song intended to be sung in a group during informal worship

improvised solo section in a small group performance

Translations to be checked

chorus (third-person singular simple present choruses, present participle chorusing or chorussing, simple past and past participle chorused or chorussed)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To sing (a song), express (a sentiment), or recite or say (words) in chorus.
      Synonym: (of two people) duet
    2. To express concurrence with (something said by another person); to echo.

      • 1849 March 17, Edgar Allan Poe, “Hop-Frog”, in The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe: […], volumes II (Poems and Miscellanies), New York, N.Y.: J. S. Redfield, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 458:

        "Yes," said the king; "Come, Hop-Frog, lend us your assistance. Characters, my fine fellow; we stand in need of characters—all of us—ha! ha! ha!" and as this was seriously meant for a joke, his laugh was chorused by the seven.

    3. (rare) To provide (a song) with a chorus or refrain.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To sing the chorus or refrain of a song.
    2. To sing, express, or say in, or as if in, unison.

      • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXX. Mr. Lovelace, to John Belford, Esq.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume VI, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 99:

        Then they all chorus'd upon me—Such a character as Miſs Harlowe's! cry'd one—A lady of ſo much generoſity and good ſenſe! another— […]

      • 1933 August 14, “No Slice for Teachers”, in Time:

        Six State Commissioners of Education gloomily chorused about retrenchments, pay cuts and shut-down schools in Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Washington, Massachusetts and Maine.

      • 1985 July 1, George Robertson, Hansard‎[10], archived from the original on 12 February 2019:

        Without an abatement agreement there would have been no chorusing from the government about the great success and triumph that Fontainebleau represented for Britain.

      • 1986, Anthony Winkler, chapter 2, in The Painted Canoe, University of Chicago Press, page 20:

        Others in the crowded bus, having nothing better to do, took up the cry, and soon many of the higglers were chorusing about the ugliness of the fisherman playing dominoes.

      • 1998 November 25, George Galloway, Hansard:

        When I asked that question in the House recently, a number of Tel Aviv's little echoes in the Chamber chorused that Israel was a democracy.

    3. To echo in unison another person's words.

      • 1947 October 20, “Miracle Man”, in Time:

        Then she shouted: "Viva our Lady of Grace," and the crowd chorused.

    4. Of animals: to make cries or sounds together.

      • 1987, Tanith Lee, Night's Sorceries, New York: Daw Books, page 122:

        Then the cocks began to crow in the town beneath the hill, and the birds chorused in the fields, and a pale yellow poppy colored the east.

      • 1998, Italo Calvino, The Path to the Spiders' Nests, translated by Archibald Colquhoun, revised by Martin McLaughlin, Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press, 1998, Chapter Two, p. 51,
        The hens are now sleeping in rows on their perches in the coops, and the frogs are out of the water and chorusing away along the bed of the whole torrent, from source to mouth.

to sing (a song), express (a sentiment), or recite or say (words) in chorus

to express concurrence with (something said by another person) — see also echo

to sing the chorus or refrain of a song

to sing, express, or say in, or as if in, unison

To echo in unison another person’s words

of animals: to make cries or sounds together

  1. ^ “chorus, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “chorus, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “chorus, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2019; “chorus, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Borrowed from Latin chorus, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós). Doublet of chœur.

IPA(key): /kɔ.ʁys/

chorus m (uncountable)

  1. chorus
    Synonym: (more common) chœur
  2. (music) refrain of a song
  3. (jazz music) improvisation by a soloist for part of all of a theme

    • 1947, Hugues Panassié, Cinq mois à New-York, Éditions Corrêa, page 89:

      Willie Smith prend une série de chorus incroyables sur Hocus Pocus, tirant de son instrument des notes suraiguës qui n’existent pas sur le doigté officiel du saxophone alto.

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  4. (sound engineering) an audio effect used on the electric guitar to give the impression that multiple musical instruments are playing at the same time

Used almost exclusively in the phrase faire chorus.

From Ancient Greek χορός (khorós), a group of actors who recite and sing together.

chorus m (genitive chorī); second declension

  1. chorus (all forms); a performance with dancing and singing; a troop or band of dancers and singers; performers

    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.498–499:

      Quālis in Eurōtae rīpīs aut per iuga Cynthī
      exercet Dīāna chorōs [...].
      Such as [when], along the banks of the Eurotas, or through the heights of Mount Cynthus, Diana leads [her] dancers [...].

Second-declension noun.

  • “chorus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “chorus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • "chorus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • chorus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[11], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • the Chorus in Tragedy: caterva, chorus
    • a choric ode in a tragedy: carmen chori, canticum
  • “chorus”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎[12]
  • “chorus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “chorus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
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Unadapted borrowing from English chorus. Doublet of coro.

chorus m (invariable)

  1. (music) chorus (effect produced by mixing a signal with delayed and modulated copies of itself)

    • 1986, Paulo Anis Lima, Trip, page 75:

      Ele usa um baixo Ken Smith, standard, de 5 cordas, com pedal oitavador e chorus.

      He plays a standard, 5-string Ken Smith bass, with an octaver pedal and chorus.

    • 2010, Antonio Adolfo, Arranjo: um enfoque atual, Lumiar Editora, page 64:

      Podem ser conseguidos a partir de efeitos como o chorus, delay, flanger ou compressor/limitador, phase-shift e pitch transposer.

      [These] may be achieved by means of effects such as chorus, delay, flanging, compression/gate, phase-shift and pitch transposition.

    • 2016, Daniel Luiz Alves, Desvendando Seu Setup: Como melhorar seu som, Clube de Autores, page 65:

      O flanger permite então vários ajustes, desde um chorus comum (é só deixar o botão Res ou Resonance ou Feedback no zero e ajustar o Depth e o Rate) […]

      Thus, the flanger permits various adjustments, from a simple chorus (just set the Res or Resonance or Feedback knob to zero and adjust the Depth and Rate [knobs]) […]