▪ I. chorus, n.
(ˈkɔərəs)
Pl. choruses.
[a. L. chorus dance, band of dancers and singers, etc. (in med.L., choir of a church), a. Gr. χορός dance, band of dancers, chorus (sense 1), etc. Cf. choir.]
1. a. Gr. Antiq. An organized band of singers and dancers in the religious festivals and dramatic performances of ancient Greece. b. The song sung by the chorus.
In the Attic tragedy, the chorus were ‘interested spectators’, sympathizing with the fortunes of the characters, and giving expression, between the ‘acts’, to the moral and religious sentiments evoked by the action of the play.
| 1606 L. Bryskett Civ. Life 149 He introduceth Poets to sing Himnes to their Gods, and teacheth the maner of their Chori in their sacrifices. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. Introd., Intermingling her solemn scenes and acts with a sevenfold chorus of hallelujahs and harping symphonies. a 1789 Burney Hist. Mus. (ed. 2) I. ix. 158 The great choruses, or interludes were generally four in number. 1807 Robinson Archæol. Græca i. xxii. 100 Fifteen persons were to constitute a tragic chorus. 1836 Thirlwall Greece III. xviii. 74 æschylus..superintended the evolutions of his chorusses. |
c. In English drama, imitated or adapted from the chorus of Attic tragedy, as in
Gorboduc, and Milton's
Samson Agonistes; by Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists reduced to a single personage, who speaks the prologue, and explains or comments upon the course of events.
| 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc, Names of the Speakers Gorboduc..etc. Chorus, foure auncient and sage men of Brittaine. c 1590 Marlowe Faust vii. (Enter Chorus), What there he did, in trial of his art, I leave untold. 1594 Kyd Cornelia iii, Cornelia. Say gentle sisters, tell me, and believe It grieves me that I know not why you grieve. Chorus. O poor Cornelia, have not we good cause. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, Prol. 32 Admit me Chorus to this Historie. 1602 ― Ham. iii. ii. 255 Y'are as good as a Chorus, my Lord. 1611 ― Wint. T. iv. i, Enter Time, the Chorus. 1671 Milton Samson, The Persons..Chorus of Danites. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xviii. 470 He is also accustomed to introduce a character as a sort of chorus, to detail the progress of events to his audience. 1878 H. James Fr. Poets & Novelists (1884) 231 In this tale{ddd}the poet never plays chorus; situations speak for themselves. |
d. fig.| 1602 Return fr. Parnass. ii. i. (Arb.) 21 Sighs are the Chorus in our Tragedie. 1634 Massinger Very Woman iv. iii, But your's is pity, A noble chorus to my wretched story. |
† 2. fig. [L.
chorus,
Gr. χορός.] Applied to the company of planets, moving in rhythmical and regular order round the sun. (
Cf. choir 6.)
| 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 10 The True System of the Universe, which places the Sun in the Center, and the Earth in the Planetary Chorus. 1720 Waterland Eight Serm. 87 The Sun, with its planetary Chorus dancing round it. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. §5. 80 The chorus of planets moving periodically, by uniform laws, in their several orbits about [the sun]. |
3. a. An organized band of singers, a choir;
spec. the collective body of vocalists who sing the choral parts in an opera, oratorio, etc.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Chorus, a Company of Singers or Dancers, a Quire. 1738 Pope Epil. Sat. ii. 242 While Heaven's whole chorus sings. 1862 Lady Wallace tr. Mendelssohn's Lett. 17 May 1831 The orchestra and chorus here are like those in our second-rate provincial towns. Ibid. 23 Nov. 1834 The choruses got drunk..and rebelled against the manager. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. II. 286 [Mendelssohn's] Antigone was brought out at Covent Garden on Jan. 2, 1845..Musically its success was not at first great, owing to the inadequate way in which the chorus was put on the stage. |
b. A group of organ pipes or stops designed to be played together; a compound stop (see
compound a. 2 f); also, the sound so produced.
| 1776 J. Hawkins Hist. Mus. IV. x. 147 The compound stops..are so called for that in them several pipes are made to speak at the touch of a single key..and the full organ or chorus is compounded of all. 1938 Oxf. Compan. Mus. 660/1 The term chorus reeds is applied to those [sc. reed stops] not suitable for solo use. 1961 C. Clutton in A. Baines Mus. Instruments 63 The baroque organ was devised to afford a considerable range of well-balanced contrasted effects, which may be divided into the two main categories of ‘solo’ and ‘chorus’. An organ chorus consists of a number of ranks of roughly the same tonal quality and power, sounding at many different pitches. |
4. a. The simultaneous utterance of song by a number of people; anything sung by many at once.
| 1711 Pope Univ. Prayer 188 One chorus let all Being raise. 1848 Lytton Harold i. i, Again broke, loud, clear, and silvery, the joyous chorus. 1862 Lady Wallace tr. Mendelssohn's Lett. 21 Jan. 1832 His organ..sounded like a full chorus of old women's voices. |
b. transf. The simultaneous utterance of any vocal sounds, as speech, laughter, etc., by a number of persons; the sounds so uttered. Also of animals,
e.g. the ‘music’ of hounds in full cry.
| 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 249 Hark! now again the Chorus fills. 1783 Johnson Lett. Mrs. Thrale 5 July, Eight children in a small house will probably make a chorus not very diverting. 1862 Lady Wallace tr. Mendelssohn's Lett. 1 Mar. 1831 [They] broke into a chorus of loud laughter. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl III. 97 A general chorus of bad language. 1881 Grant Cameronians I. iv. 58 All the dogs..kept up a chorus of mingled whining and barking. |
c. in chorus: with simultaneous utterance; (singing, speaking, etc.) all together.
| 1805 Foster Ess. ii. iv. 166 If all the nation were to laugh in chorus. 1851 Kingsley Yeast xiii, [A song] of the lowest flash London school..was roared in chorus. |
5. Mus. A vocal composition for a considerable body of singers, written in any number of parts, but most usually in four, each part being sung by a number of voices. A
double chorus is a chorus written for two choirs, usually in eight parts.
| 1744 Handel Lett. Jennens 2 Oct., Would not the words, ‘Tell it out among the Heathen that the Lord is King’, be sufficient for our Chorus? 1862 Lady Wallace tr. Mendelssohn's Lett. 16 Oct. 1830 If I were to take the first verse of ‘Vom Himmel hoch’ as a separate grand chorus. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. I. 354 Choruses for 2 choirs are called double choruses..The two choirs answer one another, and the effect is quite different from that of 8 real parts. Ibid. 646 The Hallelujah Chorus in the Messiah is known to every one. |
6. a. The refrain or burden of a song, which the audience join the performer in singing.
| 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev., Palinode, Amo. From spanish shrugs..and all affected humours. Chorus. Good Mercury defend us. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. ii, The commodore, the lieutenant, and landlord, joined in the chorus. 1840 Lever Chas. O'Malley vi, Mr. Bodkin..bespoke a chorus to his chaunt. 1851 Kingsley Yeast xiii, ‘Coorus, boys, coorus!’ and the chorus burst out, ‘Then here's a curse on varmers all’. a 1876 G. Dawson Lect. Songs Shaks. (1888) 45 The chorus of a song must be nonsense, or how could you expect the company to join in? |
b. transf.| 1790 Burns Tam O'Shanter 50 The souter tauld his queerest stories: The landlord's laugh was ready chorus. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain §1. 20 Unextinguishable laughter forms the chorus of conversation. |
c. The main part of a modern popular song, as distinct from the introductory verse; also, an improvisation upon the main tune by one or more jazz musicians.
| 1926 Whiteman & McBride Jazz x. 219 A half chorus of hot jazz and then..‘Ach, Du Lieber Augustine’ bring the orchestration to a close. 1929 Melody Maker Feb. 163/3 The first chorus, verse and second chorus showed the usual Whiteman perfection of orchestration. 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz iii. 66 The term ‘hot’ chorus may be defined as a rhythmical rendering of the tune intended to increase its suitability for dancing. 1935 Hot News Aug. 15/1 The themes utilised in jazz consist generally of a ‘chorus’ and a ‘verse’. 1941 Mus. Quart. XXVI. 53 Every jazz band provides for solo improvisation of a few choruses, usually accompanied at least by the rhythm section, and it is in this solo work that the great jazz players can best be studied. 1961 Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Bus. Jargon 13 The Chorus of most popular songs is usually a 32-bar strain, although some of Cole Porter's songs, like ‘Begin the Beguine’, run as long as 100 measures. 1965 G. Melly Owning-Up vi. 66 During Bruce Turner's first alto chorus. |
7. Comb., as
chorus-lady,
chorus-leading vbl. n.,
chorus-like adj. and
adv.,
chorus-master,
chorus-singer,
chorus-singing,
chorus-teacher, etc.
chorus-girl, a young woman who sings or dances in the chorus of an opera, musical comedy, or revue.
| 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. i. vi. 100 A certain little *chorus girl came upon the scene and served to make both money and repentance scarcer even than they were before. 1907 Daily Chron. 21 Oct. 3/2 Elizabeth's two thoroughly vulgar chorus-girl friends. 1944 Auden For Time Being (1945) 80 For talking of their spiritual Beauty to chorus-girls. |
| 1870 Observer 9 Oct. 6/4 And we now know it is possible to get rid of the extraordinary chorus ladies who hitherto have been inseparable from opera. 1884 Graphic 13 Sept. 278/2 The ‘*chorus-ladies’ fair and numerous. |
| 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets v. 147 A father taught the trade of flute-playing and *chorus-leading and verse-making to his son. |
| 1853 Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1872) II. 505, I will celebrate thee with *chorus-loving odes. |
| 1820 T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. 202 The office of choregus, or *chorus-master, was both honourable and expensive. |
| 1813 Exam. 10 May 297/2 The lowest order of *chorus-singers at Drury-Lane. |
| 1903 A. W. Patterson Schumann 66 The chorus-singing had been excellent. |
| 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets v. 147 Simonides exercised his calling of *chorus-teacher at Carthæa in Ceos. |
▸
chorus line n. Theatre (
orig. U.S.) a group of (
esp. female) dancers who perform synchronized routines, typically in a row, sometimes also singing; also in extended use.
| 1898 Syracuse (N.Y.) Evening Herald 19 Mar. 9/1 That same pretty girl..stepped out of the *chorus line one night to have a try at one of the principal parts. 1972 Times 9 Feb. 14/5 The chorus line did a French-style can can, flipping their skirts to expose their thighs and panties. 2001 Maclean's 7 May 24/2 The police, the Kabuki chorus lines of robocops banging their shields with sticks. 2002 New Republic 20 May 37/1 She paid her dues in a chorus line..and was rewarded with a respectable..speaking part in the authors' next show. |
▪ II. chorus, v. (
ˈkɔərəs)
Pa. tense and
pple. chorused (
-əst).
[f. prec. n.] 1. intr. To sing or speak in chorus.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa VI. 228 (D.) Then they all chorus'd upon me—‘Such a character as Miss Harlowe's’, cried one—‘A lady of so much generosity’..another. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey i. iv. 9 ‘Down with the manager!’ he cried—His Satellites chorussed. |
2. trans. To sing or utter in chorus.
| 1826 Scott Woodst. xxxviii, All England was engaged in chorussing his favourite ditty. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. ii, We all rose to our feet and chorused the ‘Star-spangled Banner’. c 1875 Mrs. Alexander Wooin' o't xxx, ‘Wherever did Mrs. Berry pick up such people?’ chorussed the ladies of the family. |
3. trans. To furnish with a chorus or refrain, to sing the chorus of.
b. fig. To add an expression of assent, etc., to (another's utterances); to ‘echo’.
| 1703 De Foe True-b. Eng., Brittania 57 Let ev'ry Song be Chorust with his Name. 1809 Crabbe Tales xx. Brothers, He seldom spoke, But sometimes sang and chorus'd—‘Hearts of Oak’. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xliv, When I cry chorus, chorus me standing. |
Hence
ˈchoruser (C. Lamb).