cohort

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 29, 2026 is: cohort • KOH-hort  • noun Cohort refers to a group or band of individuals, as in “a cohort of supporters.” It can also be used for a group of individuals who have a statistical factor (such as age) in common in a demographic study, as in “a cohort of people born in the 1980s.” Cohort can be used for individuals too, as for a friend, companion, or colleague, but it is almost always used in its plural form. // I wouldn’t have made it through graduate school without the help of my supportive cohort. See the entry > Examples: “By the time Rosie emerged ... for her afternoon meet-and-greet, the line of guests eager to hold the famed tarantula had already wrapped around the room and into the hallway. ... Tarantulas need to be at least 10 years old to be handled, so rearing a new cohort of Rosies could take up to a decade.” — Laura Penington, The Denver Post, 18 Aug. 2025 Did you know? In ancient times, a cohort was a military unit, one of ten divisions in a Roman legion. The term passed into English in the 15th century, when it was used in translations and writings about Roman history. Once cohort became established in our language, its meaning was extended, first to refer to any body of troops, then to any group of individuals with something in common (as in “a cohort of law students” or “a cohort of people who were born in the same year”), and later to a single companion. Some writers on usage have objected to this last sense because it can be hard to tell whether the plural refers to different individuals or different groups. The “companion” sense is well established in standard use, however, and its meaning is clear enough in such sentences as “her cohorts came along with her to the game.”