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quire

Pronunciation: /ˈkwaɪ.ə(ɹ)/

The English word “quire” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. 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.
  2. 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 (i.e. group of four), but may be several nested signatures.
  3. A book, poem, or pamphlet.

verb

  1. To prepare quires by stitching together leaves of paper.
  2. Poetic spelling of choir (“to sing in concert”).

Etymology

From Middle English quayer, from Anglo-Norman quaier and Old French quaer, from Latin quaternus (“fourfold”), from quater (“four times”). Doublet of cahier.

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