orchestra [L16th] Orchestra came into English via the Latin orchestra, ‘place where the senate sat in a theatre’, from Greek orkhestra, the semi-circular area in front of the stage where the chorus danced, from orkheisthai ‘to dance’. Quite when it became the place where the musicians sat to play is difficult to judge, for while there is one quote that suggests this sense from 1587, there is not a definite use until 1724.