chorus
UK /ˈkɔːɹəs/ · US /ˈkoɹəs/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms choruses chori chorusses chorusing chorussing chorused chorussed
- noun A group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song.
- noun A song performed by the singers of such a group.
- noun (by extension, chiefly UK, 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.
- noun 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.”
- noun (by extension) A group of people in a performance who recite together.
- noun An instance of singing by a group of people.
- noun (collective noun) A group of angels, or of types of angels like seraphim.
- noun A group of people, animals, or inanimate objects who make sounds together. “a chorus of crickets a chorus of whiners”
- verb To sing (a song), express (a sentiment), or recite or say (words) in chorus.
- verb To express concurrence with (something said by another person); to echo.
- verb (rare) To provide (a song) with a chorus or refrain.
- verb To sing the chorus or refrain of a song.
- verb To sing, express, or say in, or as if in, unison.
- verb To echo in unison another person's words.
- verb Of animals: to make cries or sounds together.
- proper noun (Ancient Greece, historical) A group of singers and dancers in a theatrical performance or religious festival who commented on the main performance in speech or song.
- proper noun (Ancient Greece, historical) A song performed by the singers of such a group.
Synonyms
Etymology
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”); The verb is derived from the noun. Doublet of choir, chore, and hora.
From Medieval Latin chorus, Latin chorus, from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A band of singers and dancers.
- noun A company of persons supposed to behold what passed in the acts of a tragedy, and to sing the sentiments which the events suggested in couplets or verses between the acts; also, that which was thus sung by the chorus.
- verb To sing in chorus; to exclaim simultaneously. W. D. Howells.
Etymology [L., a dance in a ring, a dance accompanied with song; a chorus, a band of dancers and singers. Gr. Choir.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chorus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details