Quire definition

kwīr
quired quires quiring
See word origin
Frequency:
A set of 24 or sometimes 25 sheets of paper of the same size and stock; one twentieth of a ream.
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The architectural part of a church in which the choir resides, between the nave and the sanctuary.
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A collection of leaves of parchment or paper, folded one within the other, in a manuscript or book.
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A set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper of the same size and stock, the twentieth part of a ream.
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One-twentieth of a ream of paper; a collection of twenty-four or twenty-five sheets of paper of the same size and quality, unfolded or having a single fold.
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(bookbinding) A set of leaves which are stitched together, originally a set of four pieces of paper (eight leaves, sixteen pages). This is most often a single signature (i.e. group of four), but may be several nested signatures.
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A book, poem, or pamphlet.
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(bookbinding) To prepare quires by stitching together leaves of paper.
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(archaic) A choir.
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(intransitive) To sing in concert.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
quire
Plural:
quires

Origin of quire

  • Middle English quayer four double sheets of paper from Old French quaer from Vulgar Latin quaternus from Latin quaternī set of four, four each from quater four times kwetwer- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Anglo-Norman quier, from Old French quaier, from Vulgar Latin *quaternus, from Latin quaterni (“four at a time"), from quater (“four times")

    From Wiktionary

  • Older spelling of choir.

    From Wiktionary

Quire Sentence Examples

  • This codex of the letters of Paul was made out of one single quire.

  • As always give us a ring if you have a quire and ask for Big " H "

  • It was common Anglo-Saxon practice to form a quire from four sheets of parchment - folded to make eight leaves.

  • The pavement came from the site of a 3rd-century Roman villa along with a mural displayed on the wall of the south quire aisle.

  • It has a romanesque crypt, twelfth century quire and thirteenth century stained glass windows.

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Words near quire in the Dictionary