choir [ME] The early spellings with a ‘q’ are from Old French quer, from Latin chorus (which entered English in the mid 16th century). The spelling change in the 17th century was due to association with the Latin. The spelling variant quire has never been altered in the English Prayer Book (‘In Quires and Places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem’). Quire [ME] with reference to paper was originally a small book or pamphlet made from four sheets of paper folded to make eight leaves. Its Latin root was quaterni ‘set of four’.