QUIRE (in earlier forms quaer, quaer and quere, from the O. Fr. quaier,

See also:

• MODERN

modern cahier, a copy-

See also:

• BOOK

book,

See also:

• MANUSCRIPT

manuscript book;

See also:

• LAT

Lat. quaterni, set of four, from quattuor)  , originally the term for four sheets of paper or parchment folded so as to make eight leaves, the ordinary unit in manuscripts and early printed books; the term is now chiefly applied to a twentieth part of a ream of writing paper, twenty-four sheets . In bookbinding and publishing the expression " in quires " is used of the sheets of a book when not folded or bound . " Quire " was formerly used of a small book contained in a single quire of paper, and so is frequently found in the title of short poems, treatises, &c . A familiar example is the Kingis Quair of King James I. of Scotland . " Choir," a body of singers or the part of a church where the singers sit, was formerly spelled " quire," following the pronunciation of the word (See CHOIR) .