Coterie

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈkəʊtəɹi/

Origin

Borrowing from fr {{2}}

Full definition of coterie

Noun

1. A circle of people who associate with one another.The new junior employee joined our merry after-hours coterie.
2. An exclusive group of people, who associate closely for a common purpose; a clique.A tightly-knit coterie of executive powerbrokers made all the real decisions in the company.
3. A communal burrow of prairie dogs.The coterie was located in the middle of our wheat field.
• 2000, Edward O. Wilson, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, page 473:The population of each coterie constantly changes over a period of a few months or years, by death, birth, and emigration. But the coterie boundary remains about the same, being learned by each prairie dog born into it.
• 2001, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, The Emperor's Embrace: The Evolution of Fatherhood:The odd part of prairie dog life is that this friendly state exists only among the members of each coterie, and does not extend between coteries.
• 2009, Miriam Aronin, The Prairie Dog's Town: A Perfect Hideaway, page 22:The Town Grows Young prairie dogs in a coterie are brothers and sisters. They have the same father and sometimes the same mother. To find a mate from a different family, young prairie dogs must travel to a new area.