Middle English Dictionary Entry
chōr(e n.
Entry Info
| Forms | chōr(e n. Also (?different word; ?error) pl. chorees. |
| Etymology | L chorus |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A group or company; a choir; (b) pl. dances; ?also, a troupe of dancers.
Associated quotations
a
- c1225(OE) Wor.Aelfric Gloss.(Wor F.174)546 : Chorus: chor.
- a1225 Wint.Ben.Rule (Cld D.3)93/29 : Æfter þam..seo heo onfanȝen on chore on swilcere endebyrdnesse [L in choro vel ordine] swylce þære abbodesse þince.
- (1474) Stonor1.143 : Item, rectores chore seutes of vestmentes blakke and white.
b
- a1425(a1382) WBible(1) (Corp-O 4)Judg.11.34 : To Jeptee..aȝencam..his oonli goten douȝter with tymbrys and chorys [L choris].
- (a1460) Bokenham Sts. (Adv Abbotsford B3)64.118 (v.1:p.401) : Thou spredist thyn armes abrode in maner of a crosse in chorees and daunsis merily, and myn armes were spred abrode vpon a crosse shamefully.
- c1483(?a1450) OT in Caxton Gold.Leg.(Caxton)f.66rb : The wymen camen out fro euery toun syngyng wyth choris [L (Vulg. 1 Sam.8.6): chorosque ducentes] & tympanes ayenst the comyng of Saul with grete joye & gladnesse, sayeng, 'Saul hath slayn a thousand, And dauid hath slayn ten thousand.'
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- ?a1475(?a1425) Higd.(2) (Hrl 2261)2.379 : A instrumente callede..a chore was founde in Grece, of fewe cordes and strynges, whiche is callede nowe a crowthe or a crowde.
Note: New sense.
Note: Gloss: = croud n.(2) 2.(a). It is possible also that some translators of the Biblical 'chorus' may have thought of it as an instrument rather than as a dance.
Note: Both Trev.Higd. and the Latin describe this instrument as a bagpipe. (See DMLBS chorus n.(2), sense 5.(a).)
Note: [Trev.: Þat tyme in Gres was i-founde vp an instrument of musyk þat hatte chorus..Strabus seiþ þat þat instrument is a skynne wiþ tweie pipes; by oon pipe þe ayer gooþ yn, and by þe oþer þe soun gooþ out.]
Note: [L Eo quoque tempore chorus in Graecia repertus est..Quod quidem instrumentum Strabus dicit esse pellem cum duabus cicutis per quarum alteram inspiratur et per alteram sonus redditur.]
Note: Possible additional etymological information (which may take precedence over existing L etymon chorus): (AND) [AN chore n.(2)] = "a musical instrument."--notes per MLL