chorus

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 and hora.

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

The verb is derived from the noun.^[2]

• Singular:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːɹəs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹəs/

  • Audio (Southern California):

    (file)

  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkoːɹəs/
  • Rhymes: -ɔːɹəs
  • Hyphenation: chor‧us
• Plural (chori):
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːɹaɪ/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹaɪ/

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:

        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.
      • 1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty , London: E G for Iohn Rothwell, , →OCLC, 2nd book, page 39:

        And the Apocalyps of Saint Iohn is the majeſtick image of a high and ſtately Tragedy, ſhutting up and intermingling her ſolemn Scenes and Acts with a ſevenfold Chorus of halleluja's and harping ſymphonies: […]

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.
   • 1589–1592 (date written), Ch Marl[owe], The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. , London: V S for Thomas Bushell, published 1604, →OCLC, signature , recto:

     Enter Chorus. / Cut is the branch that might haue growne ful ſtraight, / And burned is Apolloes Laurel bough, / That ſometime grew within this learned man: […]

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke:  (First Quarto), London: [Valentine Simmes] for N L and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Ya're as good as a Chorus my lord.

   • 1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. ”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: Will Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act V, scene xi, page 267:

     Palinode. / Amo. From ſpaniſh ſhrugs, french faces, ſmirks, irps, and all affected humours: / Chorvs. Good Mercvry defend vs.

   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 289, column 2:

     Enter Time, the Chorus. [stage direction]

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:

     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:

        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.

      • 2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0 – 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎, archived from the original on 6 September 2021:

        At the end of a frantic first 45 minutes, there was still time for Charlie Adam to strike the bar from 20 yards before referee Atkinson departed to a deafening chorus of jeering from Everton's fans.

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:

        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:

        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:

        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, 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:

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

      • 1862, T 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 W 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.

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

      • 1826, Allan Cunningham, chapter V, in Paul Jones; a Romance. , volume II, Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, →OCLC, page 125:

        In the middle of the little woody bay, or rather basin, which received the scanty waters of the stream, an armed sloop lay at anchor, and he heard the din of license and carousal on board,—the hasty oath—the hearty laugh—and the boisterous song, chorussed by a score of rough voices, which made the bay re-echo.

      • 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter XIV, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. , volume III, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 362:

        Shortly afterwards, all England was engaged in chorussing his favourite ditty— […]

      • 1893, Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Jabbering and Jam”, in Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 157:

        […] I could not even affect to join in the stereotyped "Oh, thank you!" which was chorused around me.

      • 1953 June 22, “Great Britain: Two-way Scrutiny”, in Thomas Stanley Matthews, editor, Time‎, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC:

        But soon they streamed ashore, fresh-faced young sailormen in small and large parties directed by ship's officers and Russian embassy guides. They drove to London, to Salisbury Cathedral, to Windsor Castle, chorusing sea chanteys and waving at girls.

      • 1955, Evelyn E. Smith, “Weather Prediction”, in Isaac Asimov, Terry Carr, Martin H Greenberg, editors, 100 Great Fantasy Short Stories, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published 1984, →ISBN:

        The Cottons chorused grateful acknowledgement.

      • 1957 December 15, “Satellites: The Quavering Chorus”, in Time‎, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC:

        From Peking to Berlin the rulers of the Communist world dutifully chorused delight at Khrushchev's coup.

      • 1981, Wole Soyinka, chapter XIII, in Aké: The Years of Childhood (The Vintage Library of Contemporary World Literature), Aventura Books edition, New York, N.Y.: Vintage, published September 1983, →ISBN, page 194:

        Again the women chorussed their approval.

      • 1982–1984, Wu Cheng’en, “When the Heart Spirit Stays in the Home the Demons Submit; the Mother of Wood Helps Bring Monsters to the Truth”, in W J F Jenner, transl., Journey to the West, volume III, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, published 1997, →ISBN, page 178:

        The evil spirit caught up with him, unwound his trunk that was like a python, wrapped it around Pig and carried him back in triumph to the cave. The devilish host chorused a paean of victory as they swarmed back.

      • 1999, Simon Schama, “Amsterdam Anatomized”, in Rembrandt’s Eyes (A Borzoi Book), New York: N.Y.: Alfred A Knopf, →ISBN, part 4 (The Prodigal), section i (The City in Five Senses), page 315:

        Elsewhere, within the walls of other charity houses, orphans' voices chorused hymns or recitations from Scripture, […]

      • 2009, Dai Sijie, chapter 3, in Adriana Hunter, transl., Once on a Moonless Night (A Borzoi Book), 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A Knopf, →ISBN, page 93:

        I also remember a Children's Day celebration organised by our local academy where the little Westerners performed a piece called The Just War: […] They jumped right up and, while they were suspended in the air, drove their bayonets into an imaginary enemy's throat, chorusing 'Kill! kill! kill!'

   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.
      • 1701 January (indicated as 1700), [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in The True-Born Englishman. A Satyr, [London: s.n.], →OCLC, page 55:

        Let ev'ry Song be Choruſt with his Name. / And Muſick pay her Tribute to his Fame.

2. (intransitive)
   1. To sing the chorus or refrain of a song.
      • 1785, James Boswell, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D, Wednesday, 8th September, 1773,

        Malcolm sung an Erse song, the chorus of which was 'Hatyin foam foam eri', with words of his own. the boatmen and Mr M’Queen chorused, and all went well.

   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 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.

      • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter IX, in Animal Farm , London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished as Animal Farm (eBook no. 0100011h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, March 2008:

        The animals crowded round the van. "Good-bye, Boxer!" they chorused, "good-bye!"

      • 1985 July 1, George Robertson, Hansard‎, 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.

• choruser
• out-chorus

• ensemble (musical theatre) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Greek chorus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• refrain on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• chorus (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Chorus in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• urochs

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

IPA^(key): /kɔ.ʁys/

• Audio:

  (file)

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.

• faire chorus

• “chorus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰo.rus/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.rus/,

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 , along the banks of the Eurotas, or through the heights of Mount Cynthus, Diana leads dancers .

Second-declension noun.

• chorāgium
• chorāgus

• “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, 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
• “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.

     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 )