Or"ches*tra (?), n. [L.
orchestra, Gr. &?;, orig., the place for the chorus of
dancers, from &?; to dance: cf. F. orchestre.]
1. The space in a theater between the stage and
the audience; -- originally appropriated by the Greeks to the chorus
and its evolutions, afterward by the Romans to persons of
distinction, and by the moderns to a band of instrumental
musicians.
2. The place in any public hall appropriated
to a band of instrumental musicians.
3. (Mus.) (a) Loosely:
A band of instrumental musicians performing in a theater, concert
hall, or other place of public amusement. (b)
Strictly: A band suitable for the performance of symphonies,
overtures, etc., as well as for the accompaniment of operas,
oratorios, cantatas, masses, and the like, or of vocal and
instrumental solos. (c) A band composed,
for the largest part, of players of the various viol instruments,
many of each kind, together with a proper complement of wind
instruments of wood and brass; -- as distinguished from a military or
street band of players on wind instruments, and from an assemblage of
solo players for the rendering of concerted pieces, such as septets,
octets, and the like.
4. (Mus.) The instruments employed by
a full band, collectively; as, an orchestra of forty stringed
instruments, with proper complement of wind instruments.
