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cho·rus (kôrəs)
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n. pl. cho·rus·es
1.
a. A group of singers who perform together, usually singing multi-part compositions with more than one singer for each part.
b. A group of vocalists and dancers who support the soloists and leading performers in operas, musical comedies, and revues.
2.
a. A musical composition usually in four or more parts written for a large number of singers.
b. A refrain in a song, especially one in which the soloist is joined by other performers or audience members.
c. A solo section based on the main melody of a popular song and played by a member of the group.
3.
a. A group of persons who speak or sing in unison a given part or composition in drama or poetry recitation.
b. An actor in Elizabethan drama who recites the prologue and epilogue to a play and sometimes comments on the action.
4.
a. A group in a classical Greek drama whose songs and dances present an exposition of or, in later tradition, a disengaged commentary on the action.
b. The portion of a classical Greek drama consisting of choric dance and song.
5.
a. A speech, song, or other utterance made in concert by many people.
b. A simultaneous utterance by a number of people: a chorus of jeers from the bystanders.
c. A simultaneous production of sound by numerous animals: the midday chorus of cicadas.
d. A simultaneous production of sound by numerous inanimate objects: a chorus of lawnmowers from the neighborhood's backyards.
tr. & intr.v. cho·rused, cho·rus·ing, cho·rus·es or cho·russed or cho·rus·sing or cho·rus·ses
To sing or utter in chorus.
Idiom:
in chorus
All together; in unison.
[Latin, choral dance, from Greek khoros; see gher-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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