quire1

[kwahyuh r] /kwaɪər/
noun
1.
a set of 24 uniform sheets of paper.
2.
Bookbinding. a section of printed leaves in proper sequence after folding; gathering.
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English quayer < Middle French quaier < Vulgar Latin *quaternum set of four sheets, derivative of Latin quarternī four each

quire2

[kwahyuh r] /kwaɪər/
noun, verb (used without object), verb (used with object), quired, quiring.
1.
Archaic. choir.
Examples from the web for quire
  • He did so, with sermons by the quire and reams of controversy, all recorded by an army of scribes.
  • And this conception has the capacity to be quire harrowing.
  • Two desks and a quire of paper set him up, where he now sits in state for all comers.
  • The costs you had in your attempt to accost of replacing a gravel driveway with a con-quire or begin a specific business.
British Dictionary definitions for quire

quire1

/kwaɪə/
noun
1.
a set of 24 or 25 sheets of paper; a twentieth of a ream
2.
  1. four sheets of paper folded once to form a section of 16 pages
  2. a section or gathering
3.
a set of all the sheets in a book
Word Origin
C15 quayer, from Old French quaier, from Latin quaternī four at a time, from quater four times

quire2

/kwaɪə/
noun
1.
an obsolete spelling of choir
Word Origin and History for quire
n.

c.1200, "set of four folded pages for a book; pamphlet consisting of a single quire," from Anglo-French quier, Old French quaier "sheet of paper folded in four," from Vulgar Latin *quaternus, from Latin quaterni "four each," from quater "four times." Meaning "standard unit for selling paper" first recorded late 14c. In quires (late 15c.) means "unbound."

early form and later variant spelling of choir (q.v.).