Standard Lemma guide

coterie

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkəʊtəɹi/
  • General-American: /ˈkoʊtəɹi/
  • General-American: /ˌkoʊtəˈɹi/
  • General-American: [ˈkoʊɾəɹi]
  • General-American: [ˌkoʊɾəˈɹi]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K OW1 T ER0 IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A circle of individuals who associate with one another for a common purpose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The new junior employee joined our merry after-hours coterie.
  • A tightly knit coterie of executive powerbrokers made all the real decisions in the company.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clique

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A communal burrow of prairie dogs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The coterie was located in the middle of our wheat field.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clique, ingroup, inner circle, pack, camp

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: set, circle, band, lot

Narrower terms: Bloomsbury Group, bohemia, kitchen cabinet, brain trust, loop, cabal, faction, junto, camarilla, military junta, junta, mafia, maffia, sect, galere, rogue's gallery, hard core

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *kutąder. Old English cotbor. Medieval Latin coteriabor. French coteriebor. English coterie Borrowed from French coterie.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: խմբակ (xmbak) — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Chinese Mandarin: 小圈子 (xiǎoquānzi) — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Czech: spolek — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Czech: kruh — circle of associates — see also clique
  • French: coterie — circle of associates — see also clique
  • German: Zirkel — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Greek: κύκλος (kýklos) — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Japanese: 同人 (dōjin) — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Norwegian Bokmål: koteri — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Polish: koteria — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Russian: кружо́к (kružók) — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Russian: круг (krug) — circle of associates — see also clique
  • Serbo-Croatian: koterija — circle of associates — see also clique
  • French: coterie — clan of prairie dogs
  • Norwegian Bokmål: flokk — clan of prairie dogs