cohors Latin · revision 2757

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ǵʰer-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈko.(ɦ)ɔrs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.ors]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cohors''' ''f'' (genitive cohortis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The contracted forms ''cors'' and ''chors'' are common, while Cato, Varro and Ovid have ''cohors'' for the farmyard, and the military sense is always ''cohors''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*kom-χorti-]], a compound of [[m|la|com-]] “together” and a ti-stem [[ine-pro|*ǵʰr-ti-|t=enclosure]] from the root [[ine-pro|*ǵʰer-|t=to grasp, enclose]], the root of [[hortus]] “garden”; de Vaan suggests that the whole may be an old compound *kom-ǵʰer-, with the cognate [[sa|हरति|tr=hárati|t=takes, brings]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline)^(Pokorny 1959) Köbler and Pokorny analyse it the same way, and Köbler adds that the military sense is a loan translation of Greek [[grc|αὐλαία|tr=aulaía]].^(Köbler 2010)^(Pokorny 1959) Lewis and Short compared [[grc|χορός|tr=khorós|t=dancing place]], which Pokorny also places under this root.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Pokorny 1959) Varro derived it from the cattle that “rise together” ([[m|la|cooriri]]) in a farmyard, and Isidore from [[m|la|coartare]], “to hem in”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Cato uses it of a [[m|en|farmyard]] to be cleaned with the byre and the sheepfold, and Ennius of a contingent of Paelignian soldiers.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense was the yard enclosed by farm buildings, and ''cohortis aves'' were the poultry kept there.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) From the enclosure of a camp it came to mean an armed force from one place, then the tenth part of a legion, the [[m|en|cohort]] of some five hundred men, a similar unit of auxiliaries, and the ''cohors praetoria'', the general's bodyguard, which Augustus made a standing force; the ''cohortes urbanae'' garrisoned Rome and the ''cohortes vigilum'' fought its fires.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Poets used it of a ship's crew.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It also meant the retinue or staff of a provincial governor, a person's circle, and any band with a common tie, from Catullus' Maenads to Horace's cohort of fevers and Gellius' “Socratic cohort”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Medieval Latin added a monastic community and the duty of attending the local synod.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010) The farmyard sense lived on in Vulgar Latin ''curtis'' and Old French ''cort'', the source of English [[m|en|court]], and in Italian ''corte'', from which ''cortigiano'' gave French ''courtisane'';^(Köbler 2010) the learned borrowings ''cohorte'', ''coorte'' and English ''cohort'' (early 15th century) continue the military sense.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a farmyard and of a cohort.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a contingent of soldiers.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a governor's retinue and of legionary cohorts.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar counts eighty cohorts of Spanish auxiliaries.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus names the urban cohorts and the cohorts of the watch.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 639–642 – Jonas of Bobbio has the medieval sense.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 15th century – [[en|cohort|alt=Cohort]] is borrowed into English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|farmyard]], an enclosure, as in ''cohortis aves'', poultry.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # An armed force, a contingent, and in poetry a ship's crew.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|cohort]], the tenth part of a legion; a unit of auxiliaries.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''Cohors praetoria'', a general's or emperor's bodyguard; the urban cohorts; the cohorts of the watch.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The retinue or staff of a governor; a person's circle.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Any band or company with a common tie.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A monastic community; attendance at a local synod.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cohortālis]]

+ * [[cohorticula]]

+ * [[cortīna]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hortus]]

+ * [[en|court]]

+ * [[en|cohort]]

+ * [[en|curtain]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein sets ''cohors'', a multitude under a commander, beside [[caterva]], a limited whole, and [[agmen]], a procession, as against [[turba]] and [[grex]], crowds without order.^(Döderlein 1874) The family is uncertain: de Vaan allows that ''cohors'' may have been built on [[hortus]] within Latin rather than inherited as a separate ti-stem.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}