chorister

English

Etymology

Derived from late Middle English queristre, from an Anglo-Norman variant of Old French cueriste, from cuer (see Middle French cuer). Equivalent to choir +‎ -ster.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒɹɪstə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹɪstɚ/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɪɹɪstəɹ/, (dialectal) /ˈkwɒɹɪstəɹ/, /ˈkwæɹɪstəɹ/ (see quirrister)

Noun

chorister (plural choristers)

1. A singer in a choir.

   None of the new choristers can sing in tune but they will learn soon enough.

   • c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 65, lines 122–124:

     These be my querysters
     To helpe me to synge,
     My hawkes to mattens rynge!

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

   • 2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 30:

     And a Salisbury Cathedral chorister complained that after working late into Christmas Day, an absence of trains meant he and his brother would not be able to get home for "our proper Christmas" until the 27th.

2. A director or leader of a choral group.

   Jane was the chorister of her congregation's choir, and that occupied much of her time on the weekends.

Synonyms

• quirister

Translations

singer in a choir

• Dutch: koorzanger (nl) m, korist (nl) m
• Esperanto: ĥorano, korusano
• Finnish: kuorolainen, kuorolaulaja
• French: chœureur m, chœureuse f
• German: Chorsänger (de) m, Chorsängerin (de) f, Chorist (de) m, Choristin (de) f
• Greek: χορωδός (el) m or f (chorodós)
• Hungarian: karénekes (hu), énekkari tag
• Irish: cantaire m
• Italian: corista (it) m or f, cantore (it) m
• Manx: cochiaulleyder m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: korsanger m

  Nynorsk: korsongar m

• Polish: chórzysta (pl) m, chórzystka (pl) f
• Russian: хори́ст (ru) m (xoríst), хори́стка (ru) f (xorístka), пе́вчий (ru) m (pévčij)
• Scottish Gaelic: neach-còisir m or f
• Spanish: corista f
• Swahili: mwanakwaya
• Swedish: körsångare c

director of a choir — see choirmaster

Anagrams

• herstoric, rhetorics, torchiers