The word was first recorded in English in 1596, from Latin, and before that, Greek. The poet and lawyer John Davies gave the word as the title of a poem devoted entirely to dancing.
Latin borrowed the word directly from Greek, without passing through French. In ancient Rome, the word named the area at the front of the theatre reserved for senators.
Behind the Greek word lay a verb meaning 'to dance'. The deeper origin of that verb remains disputed, with no confirmed root beyond Greek.
KARAOKE and CHORUS both trace back to ancient Greek theatre. KARAOKE entered English in 1979, from Japanese, built from a shortened Japanese pronunciation of the puzzle word, joined to a word meaning 'empty'. CHORUS entered English in the 1560s, from Latin, describing the band of dancers and singers who performed in a Greek theatre.
By the 1720s the word had come to name a type of group performing together, so called because they occupied the same physical space in a theatre once reserved for senators, and before that, dancers. And by 1768 it also named the seats in front of the stage.
