Orchestra /(?)/

Or·ches·tra

Orchestra

n.
  1. The space in a theater between the stage and the audience; -- originally appropriated by the Greeks to the chorus and its evolutions, afterward by the Romans to persons of distinction, and by the moderns to a band of instrumental musicians. Now commonly called orchestra pit, to distinguish it from the section of the main floor occupied by spectators.
  2. The space in the main floor of a theater in which the audience sits; also, the forward spectator section of the main floor, in distinction from the parterre, which is the rear section of the main floor.
  3. The place in any public hall appropriated to a band of instrumental musicians.
  4. Loosely: A band of instrumental musicians performing in a theater, concert hall, or other place of public amusement. (Mus.)
  5. The instruments employed by a full band, collectively; as, an orchestra of forty stringed instruments, with proper complement of wind instruments. (Mus.)