quire

quire
1. noun
a) 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.

Under the year 1533 we are told that the ream contained twenty quires.

b) (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 (ie group of four), but may be several nested signatures.

[...] and we must accept the fact that all those good novels, Villette, Emma, Wuthering Heights, Middlemarch, were written by women without more experience of life than could enter the house of a clergyman; written too in the common sitting-room of that respectable house and by women so poor that they could not afford to buy more than a few quires of paper at a time upon which to write Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.

2. verb
a) (bookbinding) To prepare quires by stitching together leaves of paper.

Now, in the first folio volume of 1616, the paging, signatures, and quiring are continuous and regular throughout.

b) To sing in concert.

This is a natural point at which to ask why quiring went out of fashion.


Wikipedia foundation.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Quire — Quire, n. See {Choir}. [Obs.] Spenser. [1913 Webster] A quire of such enticing birds. Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Quire — (kw[imac]r), n. [OE. quaer, quair, OF. quayer, cayer, ca[ i]er, F. cahier, a book of loose sheets, a quarter of a quire, LL. quaternus, quaternum, sheets of paper packed together, properly, four together, fr. L. quaterni four each, by fours,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Quire — Quire, v. i. To sing in concert. [R.] Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • quire — [kwaıə US kwaır] n [Date: 1400 1500; : Old French; Origin: quaer four sheets of paper folded once , from Latin quaterni four each, set of four ] technical 24 sheets of paper …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • quire — ► NOUN 1) four sheets of paper or parchment folded to form eight leaves, as in medieval manuscripts. 2) 25 (formerly 24) sheets of paper; one twentieth of a ream. 3) any collection of leaves one within another in a manuscript or book. ORIGIN Old… …   English terms dictionary

  • quire — quire1 [kwīr] n., vt., vi. quired, quiring archaic sp. of CHOIR quire2 [kwīr] n. [ME quair < OFr quaer, book of loose pages < VL quaternum, paper packed in lots of four pages < L quaterni, four each: see QUATERNARY] a set of 24 or 25… …   English World dictionary

  • quire — ac·quire·ment; in·quire; re·quire·ment; ac·quire; es·quire; quire; re·quire; …   English syllables

  • Quire — A quire can be any of several things:* Quire (architecture), part of a church * Paper quire, a quantity, usually 24 or 25, of sheets of paper * a variant spelling of choir * Quentin Quire, a fictional comic book character * a holder for arrows… …   Wikipedia

  • quire — {{11}}quire (1) early 13c., set of four folded pages for a book, pamphlet consisting of a single quire, from Anglo Fr. quier, O.Fr. quaier, from V.L. *quaternus, from L. quaterni four each, from quater four times. Meaning standard unit for… …   Etymology dictionary

  • quire — (qr)    a traditional unit of quantity used for counting sheets of paper. The word is from Latin, meaning by fours. A quire was originally comprised of 24 sheets cut from four of the large sheets produced by the paper maker. In modern use a quire …   Dictionary of units of measurement

  • quire — Choir Choir, n. [OE. quer, OF. cuer, F. ch[oe]ur, fr. L. chorus a choral dance, chorus, choir, fr. Gr. ?, orig. dancing place; prob. akin to ? inclosure, L. hortus garden, and E. yard. See {Chorus}.] 1. A band or organized company of singers,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”