orchestra

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A large group of musicians who play instruments together, often including strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.

   The orchestra tuned their instruments before the concert began.

2. 2
   noun

   The area in a theatre, just in front of and below the stage, where the musicians sit.

   The conductor stepped down into the orchestra and raised his baton.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Orchestra entered English in the late 16th century through Latin orchestra, the part of a theatre where the senate sat, from Greek orkhestra. The Greek word named the semicircular space before the stage where the chorus danced and derives from orkheisthai, “to dance.” Its use for the place occupied by musicians may appear in 1587 but is not securely recorded until 1724.

Borrowed from Latin orchēstra, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra), from ὀρχέομαι (orkhéomai) + -τρᾰ (-tră).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary