coterie

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

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

   • 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.
2. 2

   A communal burrow of prairie dogs.

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

The neighborhood

• neighborcottage