ENGLISH
REFERENCE

orchestra

n.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈɔɹkəstɹə// UK //ˈɔːkɛstɹɐ// or·ches·tra General-service

n. a large group of musicians playing many different instruments together, such as violins, trumpets, and drums. An orchestra is usually led by a conductor and plays classical music.

n. a large instrumental ensemble, typically classical, comprising string, woodwind, brass, and percussion sections, and directed by a conductor. Noun, countable.


SIMPLE

The orchestra plays beautiful classical music.

CONTEXTUAL

He has played the violin with the national youth orchestra for three years now.

COMPLEX

The score required every section of the orchestra to perform with a precision that left no room for error, from the quietest passage to the final booming chord.

Origin

Via Latin orchēstra, itself lifted from Ancient Greek ὀρχήστρα (orkhḗstra), the space where dancers moved in the Greek theatre; the noun is formed from the verb ὀρχέομαι, "to dance".

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