choragus

American  

[kuh-rey-guhs, koh-, kaw-] / kəˈreɪ gəs, koʊ-, kɔ- /

noun

plural

choragi, choraguses

1. (in ancient Greece)

   1. the leader of a dramatic chorus.

   2. a person who undertook the expense of providing for such a chorus.

2. any conductor of an entertainment or festival.

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choragus British  

/ kɔːˈrædʒɪk, -ˈreɪ-, kɔːˈreɪɡəs /

noun

1. 1. the leader of a chorus

   2. a sponsor of a chorus

2. a conductor of a festival

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Other Word Forms

• choragic adjective

Etymology

Origin of choragus

1620–30; < Latin < Greek chorāgós, dialectal variant of chorēgós, equivalent to chor ( ós ) chorus + -ēgos, combining form of ágein to lead

Example Sentences

At one moment a character is declaiming like a choragus; at the next he may be slanging to beat Broadway.

From Time Magazine Archive

He put up a tablet in memory of his success bearing the words: Themistokles of Phrearri was choragus, Phrynichus wrote the play, Adeimantus was archon.

From Plutarch's Lives, Volume I by Stewart, Aubrey

Therefore go and sacrifice the sheep in the house, cut off the legs and bring them here; thus the carcase will be saved for the choragus.

From The Eleven Comedies, Volume 1 by Aristophanes

She was their graceful choragus; or rather, she, like some slim daughter of the Greeks—Iphigenia or another—voiced the protagonist's part; and they wailed after her, a chorus of elders.

From Little Novels of Italy by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

It was a sight of joy to see them return at night, axe on shoulder, feigning to march like soldiers, a choragus with a loud voice singing out, 'March-step!

From Vailima Letters by Stevenson, Robert Louis