The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
choir
[O.Fr.] 1 A group of singers; traditionally the chorus organized to sing in a church. Usually, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran choirs are composed of men and boys, but occasionally in these churches and customarily in other Protestant churches men and women form the choir. 2 That division of an organ usually used to accompany the singers, played from the lowest manual on the console. 3 A section of a chorus or orchestra, as the contrasted choirs of polychoral music, or brass choir, woodwind choir. 4 That part of a church reserved for the singers and the officiating clergy in a cathedral or abbey; the same area in a parish church is the chancel: see stall.
