Are you militant about “cohort”?

Add comment November 21st, 2008

I’ve been seeing quite a few “cohorts” lately, which probably would have been a sign of war in Roman times. “Cohort” is from the Latin “cohors,” meaning “enclosure, enclosed company, hence retinue, crowd.”

For the Romans it had a specific military application: A cohort comprised 300 to 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion. Many centuries after the demise of the Roman Empire, “cohort” became acceptable in nonmilitary uses, but it still meant a group with some common characteristic.

In the past two dozen years or so, “cohort” has been marching toward an additional application: as a synonym for “associate,” “colleague,” “supporter,” “conspirator,” “accomplice” and so on, thus going from up to 600 people to just one person. That would be an expansion and a reduction at the same time.

Most language experts frown on this use for an individual, considering it highly informal at best. However, Webster’s lists two such definitions with no caution about their acceptability.

It’s probably inevitable that this aspect will acquire additional respectability in the near future. For now, you may want to avoid it, depending on which cohort(s) you’re hanging out with.