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Today it means

cohort

a group of people with a shared characteristic

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Where does the word "cohort" come from? It comes from Latin cohors, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

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Where does the word "cohort" come from? It comes from Latin cohors, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Cohort’s story begins in Latin: cohors meant “enclosure; army unit.” A tenth of a Roman legion. It reached English by 1400s as cohort. Statistical 'cohorts' date from the 1900s. Today, cohort means a group of people with a shared characteristic.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient cohors "enclosure; army unit", a tenth of a Roman legion.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s cohort "body of soldiers", statistical 'cohorts' date from the 1900s.

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