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orchestra

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: orchestră

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
The Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra

Etymology

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    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.)”).[1]

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    orchestra (plural orchestras or (rare) orchestrae)

    1. (music) 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.
      The orchestra plays music for the dancers to dance to in the 19th century-styled dance hall.
      • 1941 February, Voyageur, “The Railways of Greece”, in Railway Magazine, page 67:
        It requires quite an orchestra to get a train to start; the guard blows his horn, the stationmaster rings a large bell, and the engine whistles.
      • 2015, Aaron Sorkin, Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, spoken by Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender):
        Musicians play their instruments. I play the orchestra.
    2. (Ancient Greece, theater) 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. (collective) A group of crickets.
      • 2024 September 11, Eliot Stein, “Kayaking the waters that shaped New York City”, in BBC‎[1]:
        the jackhammering racket of the city softened and an orchestra of crickets trilled in unison
      • 2024 April 21, Borden Applegate, “Jacksonville Beach retiree: Memories of frogs, fireflies and a natural world now vanished”, in The Florida Times Union‎[2]:
        Nightfall also awakened the neighborhood orchestra of crickets.
      • 2025, Ben Hook, “Cockroaches and crickets the future for Olympic hero”, in Sen.com.au‎[3]:
        Then he’ll focus his attention on the family’s sprawling property in the Riverland town of Loxton, where Schubert farms an orchestra of crickets.

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    Translations

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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Anagrams

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    French

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    Pronunciation

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    Verb

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    orchestra

    1. third-person singular past historic of orchestrer

    Anagrams

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    Italian

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    Etymology 1

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    From Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra).

    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /orˈkɛs.tra/
    • Rhymes: -ɛstra
    • Hyphenation: or‧chè‧stra

    Noun

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    orchestra f (plural orchestre)

    1. orchestra
    2. band
    3. orchestra pit
    Derived terms
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    Descendants
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    Etymology 2

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    Verb

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    orchestra

    1. inflection of orchestrare:
      1. third-person singular present indicative
      2. second-person singular imperative

    Further reading

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    • “orchestra”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

    Latin

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    Etymology

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    Etymology tree
    Ancient Greek ὀρχέομαι (orkhéomai)
    Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr
    Proto-Indo-European *-trom
    Proto-Hellenic *-tron
    Ancient Greek -τρᾰ (-tră)
    Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra)bor.
    Latin orchēstra

      Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      orchēstra f (genitive orchēstrae); first declension

      1. orchestra (area in front of a stage)

      Declension

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      First-declension noun.

      singular plural
      nominative orchēstra orchēstrae
      genitive orchēstrae orchēstrārum
      dative orchēstrae orchēstrīs
      accusative orchēstram orchēstrās
      ablative orchēstrā orchēstrīs
      vocative orchēstra orchēstrae

      Descendants

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      References

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      • “orchestra”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
      • “orchestra”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
      • “orchestra”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
      • “orchestra”, in The Perseus Project (1999), Perseus Encyclopedia‎[4]
      • “orchestra”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
      • “orchestra”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

      Piedmontese

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      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      orchestra f (plural orchestre)

      1. orchestra

      Portuguese

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      Noun

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      orchestra f (plural orchestras)

      1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of orquestra

      Romanian

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      Etymology 1

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      Borrowed from French orchestrer.

      Verb

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      a orchestra (third-person singular present orchestrează, past participle orchestrat) 1st conjugation

      1. to orchestrate
      Conjugation
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          conjugation of orchestra (first conjugation, -ez- infix)
      infinitive a orchestra
      gerund orchestrând
      past participle orchestrat
      number singular plural
      person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
      indicative eu tu el/ea noi voi ei/ele
      present orchestrez orchestrezi orchestrează orchestrăm orchestrați orchestrează
      imperfect orchestram orchestrai orchestra orchestram orchestrați orchestrau
      simple perfect orchestrai orchestrași orchestră orchestrarăm orchestrarăți orchestrară
      pluperfect orchestrasem orchestraseși orchestrase orchestraserăm orchestraserăți orchestraseră
      subjunctive eu tu el/ea noi voi ei/ele
      present să orchestrez să orchestrezi să orchestreze să orchestrăm să orchestrați să orchestreze
      imperative — tu — — voi —
      affirmative orchestrează orchestrați
      negative nu orchestra nu orchestrați

      Etymology 2

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      See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

      Noun

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      orchestra f

      1. definite nominative/accusative singular of orchestră
      1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ὀρχέομαι”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1115: “DER > line 5 > 3. the nomen loci ὀρχ-ήστρα [f.] 'dancing-room, orchestra'”
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=orchestra&oldid=91767216"