cohort English · revision 1586

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkəʊ̯ˌhɔːt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkoʊ̯ˌhɔɹt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|cohorte]] and directly [[la|cohors|t=enclosure; company of soldiers]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''co-'' “with” and a root related to [[la|hortus|t=garden]].^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary) It is related to [[court]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A company of soldiers or band of warriors (early 15th century).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The OED records the Roman sense, one of ten divisions of a legion, from 1489.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Latin ''cohors'' meant an enclosure or farmyard, then an enclosed group or retinue, and then an infantry company.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) In English the word was extended to any band of people united in a cause (1719)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and to a demographic group sharing a characteristic such as year of birth (1944).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The informal sense of a single companion or accomplice appeared in American English in 1952.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1422 – first recorded.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1489 – a division of a Roman legion.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1500 – a band of warriors.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1719 – a group united in a common cause.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1944 – a demographic group.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1952 – a companion or accomplice, American English.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group or band of people.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[companion]], associate or [[accomplice]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A group sharing a characteristic, such as age, in [[demographics]] or statistics.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(history)'' One of the ten divisions of a Roman [[legion]], of 300 to 600 men.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Any group of soldiers or warriors.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[court]]

+ * [[horticulture]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The use of ''cohort'' for a single person, not a group, has become common and now seems to predominate.^(AHD) The American Heritage Usage Panel accepted ''the dictator and his cohorts'' by 71 percent but ''surrounded by his cohort'' by only 43 percent,^(AHD) and notes that the word, perhaps because of its military origin, usually implies a somewhat negative judgment.^(AHD) Random House likewise describes the development from “group” to “single companion”.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}