Cohort is a noun referring to a group of people banded together or treated as a unit, often sharing common characteristics or a common purpose. It can also denote a segment of people in a study or a historical military unit. The term is commonly used in academia, sociology, medicine, and government statistics, indicating collective identity or affiliation.
US: note rhoticity; ensure clear /r/ before the final /t/ if your register is casual but still crisp. UK/AU: non-rhotic tendencies; emphasize the /əʊ/ onset and keep the final /t/ crisp. IPA references: US /ˈkoʊ.hɔːrt/, UK /ˈkəʊ.hɔːt/, AU /ˈkəʊ.hɔːt/. Vowel quality differences: US tends to a more pronounced /oʊ/; UK/AU lean toward /əʊ/ with a slightly flatter starting vowel. Mouth positions: lips rounded for /oʊ/ or /əʊ/, tongue high-mid for /ɔː/ before /t/.
"The research recruited a cohort of 2,000 participants to study long-term health effects."
"Within the cohort of new employees, several demonstrated exceptional leadership potential."
"The city organized a cohort of volunteers to support disaster relief efforts."
"Historical cohorts were often mobilized for campaigns in the Roman army."
Cohort comes from the Latin cohort-, cohort-, from cohors, meaning a cohort in the sense of a company, regiment, or group. The Latin term originally referred to members of a body, particularly a military unit, and carried connotations of duty, companionship, and collective organization. In late Latin and early Romance usage, cohors evolved to denote a group of people associated by common activity or status, such as students, workers, or participants in a study. In English, cohort expanded beyond military contexts to refer to any defined group of people linked by shared characteristics, time, or experience, often used in social science, epidemiology, and education. The word maintained its sense of solidarity and collective identity, with the nuance of an organized, defined subgroup—often observed over a specified period. First known uses in English appear in 17th–18th century texts, typically in statistical or military contexts, and by the 19th and 20th centuries it became common in scholarly and bureaucratic language to describe cohorts in research cohorts, birth cohorts, and demographic cohorts.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Cohort" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Cohort" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Cohort"
-oat sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Cohort is pronounced with two syllables: /ˈkoʊ.hɔːrt/ in US English or /ˈkəʊ.hɔːt/ in UK and AU. The primary stress is on the first syllable. Start with a tense, closed jaw to produce the /oʊ/ (US) or /əʊ/ (UK/AU) diphthong, then move to a rounded back vowel /ɔː/ for the second syllable, ending with a clear /rt/ cluster in rhotic varieties. Visualize shifting from a long 'oh' sound to a rounded 'aw' before the 'rt' consonant group. You can listen to native pronunciation on Pronounce or Forvo for reference.
Common mistakes include misplacing stress as second syllable (coh-ORT), pronouncing the second syllable with a pure /ɔː/ without the /r/ color, or dropping the final 't' making it 'cohort' like 'cohor' without the vowel linkage. Correct these by ensuring primary stress on the first syllable, maintaining the /ɹ/ or /t/ depending on accent after the second vowel, and finishing with a short, crisp /t/. Practice with minimal pairs and a clear tongue-tip contact for the /t/.
In US English, /ˈkoʊ.hɔːrt/ includes a rhotacized or clearly pronounced 'r' before the 't'. In UK English, /ˈkəʊ.hɔːt/ is typically non-rhotic, with a schwa-like first vowel and a longer, rounded second syllable before the final 't'. Australian English often sits between: /ˈkəʊ.hɔːt/ with similar non-rhotic tendencies to UK but with slightly different vowel quality and a more centralized starting vowel. Listen for rhotic vs non-rhotic endings and the precise /oʊ/ or /əʊ/ onset vowels.
The difficulty lies in the diphthong transitions and the final consonant cluster /rt/. For many speakers, the /oʊ/ or /əʊ/ glide into /ɔː/ smoothly while maintaining lip rounding, then move into an audible /r/ or a non-rhotic variant, and finally a crisp /t/. The challenge is coarticulation across two non-identical vowels plus a terminal consonant cluster in fluent speech, which can blur if you speak quickly.
Note the two-syllable rhythm with a strong first-syllable emphasis, and the second syllable that carries the /ɔː/ vowel before the /t/. The presence of a clear /t/ at the end can be subtle in rapid speech; ensure you release the /t/ crisply rather than letting the vowel linger. In many dialects, the /r/ color before /t/ varies; listen for how the speaker articulates the final consonant cluster.
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