coterie

/ˈkoʊdəri/

Other forms: coteries

Have you noticed how so many of the best TV shows concentrate on a group of friends who seem to mesh together perfectly, to the exclusion of all others? This, then, is a coterie, an exclusive group with common interests.

The modern spelling and meaning of coterie developed in the 18th century from a French word rooted in the feudal system. When the farmers working the land of a feudal lord established an organization, they were called cotiers, or "tenants of a cote" (think "cottage"), and that idea of a select group led to the word coterie. There's just something so French about the idea of exclusivity, isn't there?

Definitions of coterie

1. noun

   an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
   synonyms: camp, clique, ingroup, inner circle, pack

   types:

   Bloomsbury Group

   an inner circle of writers and artists and philosophers who lived in or around Bloomsbury early in the 20th century and were noted for their unconventional lifestyles

   bohemia

   a group of artists and writers with real or pretended artistic or intellectual aspirations and usually an unconventional life style

   brain trust, kitchen cabinet

   an inner circle of unofficial advisors to the head of a government

   loop

   an inner circle of advisors (especially under President Reagan)

   cabal, camarilla, faction, junto

   a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue

   junta, military junta

   a group of military officers who rule a country after seizing power

   maffia, mafia

   any tightly knit group of trusted associates

   faction, sect

   a dissenting clique

   galere, rogue's gallery

   a coterie of undesirable people

   hard core

   the most dedicated and intensely loyal nucleus of a group or movement

   splinter group

   a faction or sect that has broken away from its parent organization

   left, left wing

   those who support varying degrees of social or political or economic change designed to promote the public welfare

   right, right wing

   those who support political or social or economic conservatism; those who believe that things are better left unchanged

   old guard

   a faction that is unwilling to accept new ideas

   pro-choice faction

   those who argue that the decision to have an induced abortion should be made by the mother

   pro-life faction

   those who argue that induced abortion is killing and should be prohibited

   type of:

   band, circle, lot, set

   an unofficial association of people or groups