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orchestra

Pronunciation: /ˈɔː.kɪs.tɹə/

The English word “orchestra” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A large group of musicians who play together on various instruments, usually including some from strings, woodwind, brass and/or percussion; the instruments played by such a group.
  2. A semicircular space in front of the stage used by the chorus in Ancient Greek and Hellenistic theatres.
  3. The area in a theatre or concert hall where the musicians sit, immediately in front of and below the stage, sometimes (also) used by other performers.
  4. A group of crickets.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin orchēstra, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra), from ὀρχέομαι (orkhéomai, “to dance”) + -τρᾰ (-tră, “a suffix used to form instrument nouns (pl.)”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.