orchestrae

Noun

orchestra (plural orchestras or (rare) orchestrae)

1. A large group of musicians who play together on various instruments, usually including some from strings, woodwind, brass and/or percussion; the instruments played by such a group.
   • The orchestra plays music for the dancers to dance to in the 19th century-styled dance hall.
2. (Ancient Greece) A semicircular space in front of the stage used by the chorus in Ancient Greek and Hellenistic theatres.
3. The area in a theatre or concert hall where the musicians sit, immediately in front of and below the stage, sometimes (also) used by other performers.
4. (collective) A group of crickets.
   • the jackhammering racket of the city softened and an orchestra of crickets trilled in unison2024 September 11, Eliot Stein, “Kayaking the waters that shaped New York City”, in BBC