Quire is a noun meaning a collection of 24 or sometimes 25 sheets of paper; historically a single folding unit or manuscript gathering. In modern use, it can also denote a choir, or a group of singers, especially within a church setting. The term is often found in archival, historical, or bibliographic contexts and can appear in phrases like “a quire of parchment.”
US: rhotic /ɹ/ with a clearer, tighter ending; UK: non-rhotic tendencies may soften the /ɹ/; AU: rhotic in careful speech but can be lenient in casual. Vowel: /aɪ/ diphthong often centralized or raised slightly in UK; mouth opens modestly at the start. Use IPA guides to compare: US /kwaɪɹ/, UK /kwaɪə/ (in non-rhotic contexts), AU /kwaɪɹ/ but with potential vowel reduction before /ɹ/.
"The old ledger was written on a quire of blank parchment."
"She fetched a quire of paper from the mill to refill the stamp."
"The manuscript was arranged in quires for easier binding."
"A quire of singers gathered to rehearse the sacred chant."
Quire comes from the Old French quier, derived from quére, which referred to a bundle of papers. In medieval and early modern English, a quire was a specific unit of manuscript work or bookmaking, often representing a group of leaves that were folded to form a gathering. The term later came to denote a standard quantity of paper, historically 24 or 25 sheets, equivalent to six sheets folded into four leaves each. The precise number could vary regionally and over time, reflecting the practices of parchment and vellum production, and the different sizes of quires used by scribes and printers. In bibliographic contexts, a quire is a single folded unit within a book, sometimes comprised of two or more sheets printed on both sides before binding. Over centuries, “quire” retained this paper-gathering sense while also associating with the verb form in phrases like “quire of singers” (in early usage referring to a choir). The word’s survival into modern times is most visible in archival descriptions, historical manuscripts, and catalogs. Modern usage often implies multiple sheets of paper, but the term can still appear in the phrase referring to a choir in certain contexts. First known use in English dates from the 13th to 14th centuries, paralleling the rise of centralized book production and standardized manuscript units.
💡 Etymology tip: Understanding word origins can help you remember pronunciation patterns and recognize related words in the same language family.
Help others use "Quire" correctly by contributing grammar tips, common mistakes, and context guidance.
💡 These words have similar meanings to "Quire" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Quire" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Quire"
-ire sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
🎵 Rhyme tip: Practicing with rhyming words helps you master similar sound patterns and improves your overall pronunciation accuracy.
Quire is pronounced /kwaɪr/ in US and UK rhotic speech. The initial consonant is a voiceless labiodental fricative? Actually, /k/ followed by /w/ blending into /aɪ/ (like ‘qui’ inquire) then the /r/ rhotic ending. The stress is on the word as a single syllable. Mouth positioning: start with a back of the tongue raised toward the soft palate for /k/, then round for /w/ while gliding into the /aɪ/ diphthong; finish with a clear, relaxed retroflex or alveolar /ɹ/ depending on accent. Listen for a smooth transition from /aɪ/ to /r/ without an extra vowel. IPA: /kwaɪr/. Audio examples: you can compare with “quire” in dictionaries or pronunciation videos.” ,
Common mistakes include pronouncing it as /kwiːər/ with a lengthened /iː/ digit or inserting an extra syllable, producing /ˈkwiːɹər/ or /ˈkwaɪər/ with an unnecessary vowel after /r/. Another error is mispronouncing the /r/ as a non-rhotic ending, causing it to drift toward /kwaɪə/ or /kwaɪ/ without the final rhotic. To correct: keep the diphthong tight as /aɪ/ and end in a crisp, single rhotic /r/ without a following schwa; finish with a single, quick /ɹ/ and avoid adding vowels between /aɪ/ and /ɹ/.”,
In US and UK rhotic varieties, /kwaɪr/ with a rhotic /r/ at the end is standard. In non-rhotic accents (some UK dialects), the final /r/ may be non-pronounced unless followed by a vowel, giving something like /kwaɪə/ or /kwaɪ/. Australian English generally keeps a rhotic /r/ in careful speech, but in casual speech the /r/ can be weaker, similar to UK. Across accents, the key differences are the presence and quality of the final /ɹ/ and the vowel quality preceding it; the /aɪ/ diphthong tends to be stable, but vowel height can subtly shift in Australian speech.
The difficulty lies in the short, tight /aɪ/ diphthong transitioning into a rhotic /ɹ/ without inserting an extra vowel. Learners often misplace the tongue for the /ɹ/ or insert an extra schwa, producing /kwaɪəɹ/ or /kwiːər/. The combination of a voiced alveolar approximant and a final rhotic trailing sound requires careful tongue adjustment and a relaxed jaw. Also, the silent or subtlely reduced vowel in some dialects can tempt mispronunciation; focus on producing a single, clean /ɹ/ after /aɪ/.
A unique aspect is the way /k/ and /w/ blend to create /kwa/ at the start: the /k/ is a hard stop, followed immediately by /w/ that lips-rounds to contribute to the /w/ glide; the result is a compact onset /kwaɪ/. The tongue retracts for /ɹ/ at the end, with a small mouth opening as you roll the tongue to approximate the r-coloring. This combination—hard /k/ + /w/ + /aɪ/ + /ɹ/—is a precise, quick sequence that benefits from slow practice, then speed up while maintaining a crisp final /ɹ/.
🗣️ Voice search tip: These questions are optimized for voice search. Try asking your voice assistant any of these questions about "Quire"!
- Shadow a native speaker pronouncing 'quire' in BBC or American English from YouGlish; aim to mimic the exact /kwaɪɹ/ sequence. - Minimal pairs: /kwaɪɹ/ vs /kwaɪə/ (rhotic vs non-rhotic darling) and /kwiɹ/ vs /kwaɪɹ/ to isolate the vowel onset. - Rhythm: practice with 4-beat rhythm: kwai | ɹ, hold the /aɪ/ for two counts then release /ɹ/. - Stress: single-syllable word; keep jaw relaxed. - Recording: compare your audio with a model; use a metronome; adjust speed from slow to normal. - Context drills: read a sentence with “quire” in bibliographic context and in choir context to feel the semantic voice.
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