cohort

UK: /ˈkəʊhɔː^rt/ US: (kō′hôrt)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

co•hort  (kō′hôrt), n. 

1. a group or company:
   She has a cohort of admirers.
2. a companion or associate.
3. Ancient History, Antiquity, Military one of the ten divisions in an ancient Roman legion, numbering from 300 to 600 soldiers.
4. Military any group of soldiers or warriors.
5. an accomplice;
   abettor:
   He got off with probation, but his cohorts got ten years apiece.
6. Sociology a group of persons sharing a particular statistical or demographic characteristic:
   the cohort of all children born in 1980.
7. Biology an individual in a population of the same species.

• Latin nominative singular
• Latin cohort- (stem of cohors) farmyard, armed force (origin, originally from a particular place or camp), cohort, retinue, equivalent. to co- co- + hort- (akin to hortus garden); replacing late Middle English cohors
• Middle French cohorte
• 1475–85

Synonyms

• 2. friend, comrade, fellow, chum, pal, buddy.

Usage

A cohort was originally one of the ten divisions of a legion in the Roman army, containing from 300 to 600 men. The most common use of cohort today is in the sense "group'' or "company'':
A cohort of hangers-on followed the singer down the corridor.
In a development emphasizing the idea of companionship, cohort has also come to mean a single companion, associate, or the like:
The senator strode into the room followed by his faithful cohort, his son-in-law.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

cohort / ˈkəʊhɔːt/ noun

1. one of the ten units of between 300 and 600 men in an ancient Roman Legion
2. any band of warriors or associates: the cohorts of Satan
3. an associate or follower

Etymology: 15th Century: from Latin cohors yard, company of soldiers; related to hortus garden