View source for Choir - quire

The two forms '''choir''' and '''quire''' are, mostly,  different spellings of the same word. (For another meaning of one of them, see [[Quire]].) '''Choir''' is the usual spelling in current English, although '''quire''' is the better representation of the pronunciation of the word in either spelling - {{IPA|ˈkwaɪ ə<sup>r</sup>}}. In either spelling, it means 'a formally arranged group of singers', originally always for church services.
 
::''[[OED]]'' (1899) gives the [[etymology]] as from the [[Middle English]] ''quer'',  or ''quere'', which became ''quyer'' or ''quire'' in a regular change, which can be paralleled in the history of (modern) 'friar' and 'briar'. It adds: "The spoken word is still ''quire'', though since the close of the 17th cent. this has been '''fictitiously''' spelt ''choir'', apparently as a partial assimilation to Greek-Latin ''chorus'', or French ''chœur''." (Since this did reflect the ultimate {Greek) derivation '''chorus''', ''[[OED]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s 'fictitious' can only be understood in terms of a preference for the English version, ''quer'', of the immediate source, French ''cuer''). The ultimate origin is the [[Greek]] χορὀς‚ (chorus) 'dance', 'company of dancers or singers', through the medieval Latin meaning of 'body of singers in church', 'place for singers in church'. This became ''cuer'' in Old French ('choir of a church') and ''chœur'' in modern French.

::"The spelling ''quire'' has never been altered in the English Prayer-book. Some people affect to pronounce ''choir'' {{IPA|ˈkɔɪ ə(<sup>r</sup>}} ['koh-ih-err']" (''[[OED]]'').

*There is a similar, but less common, difference in the spelling of '''chorister''' (the usual form) and '''''quirister'''''. In this case, the first represents the current pronunciation, 'CORR-ist-er', {{IPA|ˈkɒr ɪst ə<sup>r</sup>}}. ("The older pronunciation 'KWIRR-ist-er' {{IPA|ˈkwɪr ɪst ə<sup>r</sup>}}, came down to the nineteenth century" (''[[OED]]'').) In the USA, '''chorister''' is sometimes  used to mean the chief singer in a choir composed of '''singers'''.

::Some cathedrals, such as York [[Cathedral - minster|Minster]], Westminster Abbey and Wells Cathedral and churches such as St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, retain the older spelling '''quire''' as the name of the area of the church (between the nave and the altar) where the choir (singers) and officiating clergy have seats during services.  Durham Cathedral distinguishes between the two spellings, noting on its webasite (https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/architecture/cathedral/intro/quire): "The '''Quire (as distinct from the Choir''') is an area of the church often referred to as a “chancel”" (AWE's emphasis).

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[[category:archaic English]]
[[category:pedantic usage]]
[[category:academic culture]]
[[category:etymology]]
[[Category:Bridges I]]