COHORT

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

COHORT

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:02 pm

• cohort •

Pronunciation: ko-hort • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, collective (singular referring to many)

Meaning: 1. A unit in the Roman army comprising 6 centuries (units of 100 men each). 2. A substantial group of people united in purpose. 3. An associate or supporter in some venture of questionable morality.

Notes: Today's Good Word is in a state of flux. Historically, it has been used as a collective noun, a singular noun that refers to more than one object, like team and group (the nouns that the British use with plural verbs: "the team are ready", "the committee have convened"). In the US, however, this word is assuming a new meaning (No. 3 above) referring to a single person. This has led to expressions like "the president and his cohorts" rather than "his cohort". This usage, in turn, degenerated even further into the slang expression in cahoots with, meaning "plotting with", popularized by the sidekick of Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes.

In Play: Although we know we will not slow the flow of this word's singularization, we still prefer it as a collective noun: "Susan Liddy-Gates showed up in court with a cohort of the most expensive lawyers in town." Be careful how you use this word; it often conveys a shade of pejorativity: "Jimmy Chonga and a cohort of his cronies marched into the meeting as though they owned it."

Word History: Today's Good Word was borrowed via French from Latin cohor(t)s "military unit containing 6 centuries" where a century is a unit of 100 soldiers. It contains the prefix co- "with" + hort- the stem of hortus "garden, enclosure", as in horticulture. The same root gave us Russian gorod "city" (from the time when cities were enclosed), German Garten "garden" as in Kindergarten, and English garden and girdle, something that encloses a stomach. Hangar was borrowed from Old French hangard "enclosure, shelter" probably borrowed from Germanic heimgardaz "home enclosure, garden". In Greek we find choros "round dance", which may have originally referred to an enclosed dance area. This word turns up in many English borrowings like chorus, carole, and choir. (Let us offer a choir of thanks to Lawrence McFarland-Groves for suggesting we add today's Good Word to our growing lexical garden.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:23 am

So didn't Tennysonknow the word cohort?
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Postby Stargzer » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:27 pm

Perhaps Alf wanted to be more precise. A cohort varied in size over time.

From Wikipedia:
A cohort (from the Latin cohors, plural cohortes) is a fairly large military unit, generally consisting of one type of soldier.


Military cohort
Originally, the cohort was a sub-unit of a Roman legion, consisting of 600 legionaries from its introduction by Gaius Marius and of 450 after the reign of Augustus, and including six centurions. The cohort itself was divided into six centuries of 80 men commanded each by a centurion.

From the R[sup]th[/sup] Dimension page on Ancient Rome:
The Legion
The typical Roman legion of the Late Republican era--at full strength--consisted of about 4800 troops organized into 10 cohorts. Each cohort consisted of six centuries of 80 to 100 men, depending upon the number of battlefield casualties, soldiers suffering from battle fatigue, and those who were ill. Each century was subdivided into contubernia, ten units of eight men.
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:19 am

and of 450 after the reign of Augustus, and including six centurions. The cohort itself was divided into six centuries of 80 men commanded each by a centurion.
Looks like ancient Rome suffered from devaluations, giving only 80 men for a hundred. :roll:
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Postby Stargzer » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:29 am

and of 450 after the reign of Augustus, and including six centurions. The cohort itself was divided into six centuries of 80 men commanded each by a centurion.
Looks like ancient Rome suffered from devaluations, giving only 80 men for a hundred. :roll:
Maybe the Romans would have said that 80 Roman soldiers were the equivalent of 100 normal soldiers.

Reminds me of a joke from the era of the 1967 war ...

:lol:
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

User avatar
gailr
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1945
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:40 am
Contact:

Postby gailr » Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:19 pm

So didn't Tennysonknow the word cohort?
Zack Snyder did not use Half a Cohort, either...


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Bing [Bot] and 46 guests