cohort
UK[ˈkəʊhɔːt]US[ˈkoʊhɔːrt]
n
A group of people with a shared characteristic, especially age.
n
A group of people who support a particular person, leader, or belief.
n
A group of soldiers in an ancient Roman legion.
Morpheme Breakdown
co
hort
co
together
hort
enclosure, garden
Etymology
The word 'cohort' has a vivid journey from literal military organization to modern social grouping. It originates from Latin 'cohors' (genitive 'cohortis'), meaning an enclosed yard or farm, and by extension, a company of soldiers quartered together. This Latin term is a compound of the prefix 'co-' (a variant of 'com-', meaning 'together') and the root from 'hortus' ('garden' or 'enclosure'), painting a picture of a band of warriors gathered within a shared space. Over time, the meaning expanded from its specific Roman military unit of 300-600 soldiers to denote any band of companions or supporters, and later, in statistics and sociology, a group sharing a common demographic or experiential trait, thus retaining the core idea of a collective defined by a common boundary or characteristic.
Analysis
Structure: co (together) + hort (enclosure, garden)
- co-: A prefix from Latin 'com-', meaning 'together', 'with', or 'jointly'. It functions as an intensifier or collective marker.
- hort: A root from Latin 'hortus', meaning 'garden' or 'enclosure'. It functions as the core noun base.
Examples
The study followed a cohort of children born in the same year.
He arrived at the meeting with his usual cohort of advisors.
The tenth cohort of the legion was stationed at the fortress.