- chorus (n.) - 1560s, from Latin chorus "a dance in a circle,
the persons singing and dancing, the chorus of a tragedy," from
Greek khoros "band of dancers or singers, dance, dancing
ground," perhaps from PIE *gher- "to grasp, enclose," if the
original sense of the Greek word is "enclosed dancing floor."
Extension from dance to voice is because Attic drama arose from
tales inserted in the intervals of the dance. In Attic tragedy,
the khoros (of 15 or 24 persons) gave expression, between the
acts, to the moral and religious sentiments evoked by the
actions of the play. When a Poet wished to bring out a piece, he
asked a Chorus from the Archon, and the expenses, being great,
were defrayed by some rich citizen (the khoregos): it was
furnished by the Tribe and trained originally by the Poet
himself" [Liddell & Scott] Originally in English used in
theatrical sense; meaning of "a choir" first attested 1650s.
Meaning "the refrain of a song" (which the audience joins in
singing) is 1590s. As a verb, 1703, from the n