orchestra

See also: orchestră

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin orchēstra, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra) (a derivative of ὀρχέομαι (orkhéomai, “to dance”)).

Pronunciation

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

Orchestra of the 18th Century

orchestra (plural orchestras)

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.
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.

Usage notes

• In British English, "The orchestra are tuning up" is often used, implying the individual members. In the US, one would almost always hear "The orchestra is tuning up", implying a collective.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• orchestra hit
• orchestral
• orchestrate, orchestration

• (orchestra types) chamber orchestra, orchestra in residence, philharmonic orchestra, string orchestra, symphony orchestra
• orchestrina, orchestrion

Translations

large group of musicians who play together on various instruments

• Albanian: orkestër (sq) m
• Arabic: أُورْكِسْتْرَا‎ f (ʾorkestrā)
• Armenian: նվագախումբ (hy) (nvagaxumb)
• Azerbaijani: orkestr (az)
• Belarusian: арке́стр m (arkjéstr)
• Bengali: অর্কেস্ট্রা (ôrkesṭra), বাদকদল (badôkdôl)
• Bulgarian: орке́стър m (orkéstǎr)
• Burmese: သံစုံတီးဝိုင်း (my) (samcumti:wuing:)
• Catalan: orquestra (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 樂團 (zh), 乐团 (zh) (yuètuán), 樂隊 (zh), 乐队 (zh) (yuèduì), 管弦樂團 (zh), 管弦乐团 (zh) (guǎnxián yuètuán), 管弦樂隊 (zh), 管弦乐队 (zh) (guǎnxián yuèduì)

• Czech: orchestr (cs) m
• Danish: orkester (da) n
• Dutch: orkest (nl) n
• Esperanto: orkestro
• Estonian: orkester
• Finnish: orkesteri (fi)
• French: orchestre (fr) m
• Galician: orquestra (gl) f
• Georgian: ორკესტრი (orḳesṭri)
• German: Orchester (de) n
• Greek: ορχήστρα (el) f (orchístra)
• Greenlandic: nipilersortut
• Hebrew: תזמורת / תִּזְמֹרֶתf‎ (he) f (ʾtizmoret)
• Hindi: बाजा (hi) m (bājā), ऑर्केस्ट्रा (ŏrkesṭrā)
• Hungarian: zenekar (hu)
• Icelandic: hljómsveit (is) f, orkestur n
• Indonesian: orkestra (id)
• Japanese: オーケストラ (ja) (ōkesutora)
• Kazakh: оркестр (orkestr)
• Khmer: តុរិយាង្ (toʔriʔyaaŋ), ពិផាត (km) (piʔpʰaat)
• Korean: 오케스트라 (okeseuteura)
• Kyrgyz: оркестр (orkestr)

• Lao: ດຸລິຍາງ (du li nyāng), ຕຸລິຍາງ (tu li nyāng), ມະໂຫລີ, ມະໂຫຣີ, ປີ່ພາດ (pī phāt)
• Latvian: orķestris m
• Lithuanian: orkestras m
• Macedonian: орке́стар m (orkéstar)
• Malay: orkestra
• Maori: tira puoro, rāngai puoro
• Mongolian: найрал хөгжим (najral högžim)
• Norman: orchestre m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: orkester n

  Nynorsk: orkester n

• Persian: ارکستر‎ (fa) (orkestr)
• Polish: orkiestra (pl) f
• Portuguese: orquestra (pt) f
• Romanian: orchestră (ro) f
• Russian: орке́стр (ru) m (orkéstr)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: оркестар m

  Roman: orkestar (sh) m

• Slovak: orchester m
• Slovene: orkester m
• Spanish: orquesta (es) f
• Swedish: orkester (sv) c
• Tagalog: orkestra
• Tajik: оркестр (tg) (orkestr)
• Thai: ออร์เคสตรา (ɔɔ-kêet-dtraa), ดุริยางค์ (dù-rí-yaang)
• Turkish: orkestra (tr)
• Turkmen: orkestr
• Ukrainian: орке́стр (uk) m (orkéstr)
• Urdu: آرکسٹرا‎ (ārkesṭrā)
• Uzbek: orkestr (uz)
• Vietnamese: dàn nhạc
• Yiddish: אָרקעסטער‎ (orkester)

semicircular space in front of the stage used by the chorus in Ancient theatres

• Danish: orchestra c
• Dutch: orkestra (nl)
• Finnish: orkestra (fi), orkesteri (fi)
• French: orchestre (fr) m

• Greek: θυμέλη (el) f (thyméli), ορχήστρα (el) f (orchístra)
• Norman: orchestre m
• Polish: orchestra (pl) f
• Portuguese: orquestra (pt) f

the area in a theatre or concert hall where the musicians sit

• Danish: orkestergrav (da) c
• Dutch: orkestbak (nl)
• Finnish: orkesterimonttu
• French: orchestre (fr) m
• German: Orchestergraben (de) m

• Greek: ορχήστρα (el) f (orchístra)
• Norman: orchestre m
• Portuguese: orquestra (pt) f
• Russian: оркестро́вая я́ма (ru) f (orkestróvaja jáma)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} orchestra (it) f
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} orchestra f
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} orchestră (ro) f

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} orquesta (es) f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} orkester (sv)

Anagrams

• carthorse, horsecart, rheocrats

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔʁ.kɛs.tʁa/

Verb

orchestra

1. third-person singular past historic of orchestrer

Anagrams

• torcheras

---

Italian

Noun

orchestra f (plural orchestre)

1. orchestra
2. band
3. orchestra pit

Verb

orchestra

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

---

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /orˈkʰeːs.tra/, [ɔrˈkʰeːs.tra]

Noun

orchēstra f (genitive orchēstrae); first declension

1. orchestra (area in front of a stage)

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	orchēstra	orchēstrae
Genitive	orchēstrae	orchēstrārum
Dative	orchēstrae	orchēstrīs
Accusative	orchēstram	orchēstrās
Ablative	orchēstrā	orchēstrīs
Vocative	orchēstra	orchēstrae

Descendants

• English: orchestra
• French: orchestre
• Italian: orchestra
• Portuguese: orquestra
• Spanish: orquestra

References

• 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^[1]
• 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

---

Romanian

Noun

orchestra f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of orchestră