Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ Some think the word is from Grk χorós ‘choir’. Dozy considered it an abbreviated form of Grk χōrepískopos ‘vice bishop in the countryside’. In contrast, Wahrmund1887 compared Fr curé ‘parson’, a suggestion perh. worth following.

hist

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cogn

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disc

▪ Rolland2014: as also ḫūrus ‘choir’ from Grk χorós ‘choir’, of unknown origin. According to Dozy I, however, ḫūrī is short for Grk χōrepískopos ‘vice bishop in the countryside’.
▪ Wahrmund1887: < Fr curé ‘parish-priest’. This suggestion has not received much attention so far, but is phonologically convincing as it explains the final ‑ī in ḫūrī.

west

▪ If ḫūrī is from Grk χorós, then it has the same origin as Engl choir, c. 1300 queor ‘part of the church where the choir sings’, from oFr cuer, quer ‘(architectural) choir of a church; chorus of singers’ (C13, modFr chœur), from Lat chorus ‘choir’ (see chorus). In Engl, the meaning ‘band of singers’ is from c. 1400, quyre. Re-spelled mC17 in an attempt to match classical forms, but the pronunciation has not changed – EtymOnline.
▪ If it is from Fr curé, cognates in Eur langs are items that, ultimately, go back to Lat cura ‘care, concern, trouble’. Fr curé is first attested in 1259 as ‘parish-priest’; by extension, any ‘cleric’ (1845); from mLat curatus ‘one responsible for the care (of souls)’ (C11; very rare in the Middle Ages), derived from Lat cura, curare ‘to take care of’ (CNRTL, EtymOnline).

deriv

► al-ḫūrī al-ʔusqufī, n., representative of the bishop (Chr.); see also ↗ʔaḫyarᵘ.

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