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orchestras

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Orchestria
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or⋅ches⋅tra

  [awr-kuh-struh]
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–noun
1. a group of performers on various musical instruments, including esp. stringed instruments of the viol class, clarinets and flutes, cornets and trombones, drums, and cymbals, for playing music, as symphonies, operas, popular music, or other compositions.
2. (in a modern theater)
a. the space reserved for the musicians, usually the front part of the main floor (orchestra pit).
b. the entire main-floor space for spectators.
c. the parquet.
3. (in the ancient Greek theater) the circular space in front of the stage, allotted to the chorus.
4. (in the Roman theater) a similar space reserved for persons of distinction.
Origin:
1590–1600; < L orchēstra < Gk orchstra the space on which the chorus danced, deriv. of orcheîsthai to dance
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Orchestria
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or·ches·tra   (ôr'kĭ-strə, -kěs'trə)   
n.  

  1. Music

    1. A large group of musicians who play together on various instruments, usually including strings, woodwinds, brass instruments, and percussion instruments.

    2. The instruments played by such a group.

    3. The front section of seats nearest the stage in a theater.

    4. The entire main floor of a theater.

  2. The area in a theater or concert hall where the musicians sit, immediately in front of and below the stage.

    1. The front section of seats nearest the stage in a theater.

    2. The entire main floor of a theater.

  4. A semicircular space in front of the stage used by the chorus in ancient Greek theaters.


[Latin orchēstra, the space in front of the stage in Greek theaters where the chorus performed, from Greek orkhēstrā, from orkheisthai, to dance.]
or·ches'tral (ôr-kěs'trəl) adj., or·ches'tral·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

orchestra

A group of musicians who play together on a variety of instruments, which usually come from all four instrument families — brass, percussion, strings, and woodwinds. A typical symphony orchestra is made up of more than ninety musicians. Most orchestras, unlike chamber music groups, have more than one musician playing each musical part.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

orchestra 
1606, "area in an ancient theater," from L. orchestra, from Gk. orkhestra, semicircular space where the chorus of dancers performed, with suffix -tra denoting place + orkheisthai "to dance," intens. of erkhesthai "to go, come," from PIE *ergh- "to set in motion, stir up, raise" (cf. Skt. rghayati "trembles, rages, raves," L. oriri "to rise"), from base *er-/*or- (cf. L. origo "a beginning;" Skt. rnoti "rises, moves," arnah "welling stream;" O.Pers. rasatiy "he comes;" Gk. ornynai "to rouse, start;" Goth. rinnan, O.E. irnan "to flow, run"). In ancient Rome, it referred to the place in the theater reserved for senators and other dignitaries. Meaning "group of musicians performing at a concert, opera, etc." first recorded 1720; "part of theater in front of the stage" is from 1768. Orchestrate "to compose or arrange (music) for an orchestra" is an 1880 back-formation of orchestration, which was borrowed 1864 from Fr. The fig. sense of orchestrate is attested from 1883.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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