POSSE
What does "POSSE" mean?
A group gathered to pursue someone, or informally one's close circle of friends.
Meanings
- A body of people summoned by a sheriff to enforce the law or pursue a suspect (historically 'posse comitatus'). The sheriff deputized a posse to track the outlaws.
- A group of one's friends or associates; a crew. She showed up to the gig with her whole posse. informal
Did you know?
- The Western 'posse' is a clipped piece of Latin law: 'posse comitatus', the 'force of the county', the sheriff's age-old power to draft ordinary citizens into chasing a fugitive.
Word origin
Short for Medieval Latin 'posse comitatus' (literally 'force of the county'), where 'posse' means 'to be able, power', from Latin 'potis' (able) + 'esse' (to be).
Remember it
POSSE = 'power to be': it comes from Latin 'posse' (to be able), the gang the sheriff is able to summon.
A little poem
A scrap of courtroom Latin learned to ride-
now any crew you trust rides at your side.
couplet
Wordplay
- My friends call themselves my posse - which is fitting, since the word literally means the people I'm able to summon when I need backup.
What it teaches
The word for the friends at your side once meant 'the power to act': a posse is proof that you are never only as strong as one.
Quick facts
What does POSSE mean?
A group gathered to pursue someone, or informally one's close circle of friends.
Is POSSE a valid word?
Yes — POSSE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is POSSE?
POSSE has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does POSSE come from?
Short for Medieval Latin 'posse comitatus' (literally 'force of the county'), where 'posse' means 'to be able, power', from Latin 'potis' (able) + 'esse' (to be).
What can POSSE teach us?
The word for the friends at your side once meant 'the power to act': a posse is proof that you are never only as strong as one.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.