“Cohort”
December 14th, 2007, by Kirk MahoneyUse of this word spans several disciplines.
Problem:
“Cohort” has multiple meanings.
Explanation:
Demographers, epidemiologists, and market researchers use the noun “cohort” to mean a group of individuals with a common statistical factor (e.g., age).
Historians use “cohort” to refer to an infantry company in a Roman legion.
However, the two most common uses of “cohort” are a group of people and an individual associate.
Talk about contradictory definitions!
So “cohort” is both a singular noun and a plural noun.
Solution:
Be careful with how you use the noun “cohort”; otherwise, your readers may misunderstand you or may challenge how you use it.
Copyright © 2007 Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D.
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