church choirn.
/ˌtʃəːtʃ ˈkwʌɪə/, U.S. /ˌtʃərtʃ ˈkwaɪər/ 1. The part of a church building used by the choir of singers during services; = choir n. 2a.
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society > faith > artefacts > division of building (general) > choir > [noun]
chorea1100
choirc1325
church choir1658
psalmody1664
ritual choir1848
schola cantorum1862
1658 W. Sanderson Compl. Hist. Life King Charles 176 He repaired the Entry front and Porches to all the upper Church Quire and Chancel.
1745 D. Soyer & J. Lockman tr. ‘Monsieur de Blainville’ Trav. III. 287 He there asserts, that this Marble had formerly laid flat on the Ground, in the Church-Choir.
1882 F. H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer Scotl. II. 491/2 The church choir, as usual, had a Lady chapel at its E end.
1996 Archaeol. Ireland 10 i. 10/3 The East Range contained the most important apartments such as the sacristy next to the church choir.
2. A choir of singers organized by a church and which sing at its services.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > company of singers > [noun] > church choir
schoolOE
choir?c1430
church choir1792
1792 Laity's Directory 9 The Gregorian Note in Red and Black of the largest size, for the Church Choirs, has been unavoidably postponed.
1851 E. E. Stuart Let. 8 Oct. in R. Stuart et al. Stuart Lett. (1961) I. 215 Yesterday I went to Chh. service and inwardly rejoiced that at least we had a real and sweet Church choir.
1900 Cornish Echo 30 Mar. 4/4 Wesley Chapel Falmouth. Sacred Concert by Truro Wesleyan Church Choir.
1971 L. Beckwith About my Father's Business (1973) xii. 142 The church choir was exclusively male with a large proportion of young boys who were nice to look at as well as having lovely treble voices.
2002 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 23 Oct. r11/2 In the community of Tasiikaq, we were entertained by a church choir and a drum dancer.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1658