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Posse started out in English as part of a term from common law, posse comitatus, which in Medieval Latin translates as “power or authority of the county.” Posse comitatus referred to a group of citizens summoned by a reeve (a medieval official) or sheriff to preserve the public peace as allowed for by law. “Preserving the public peace” so often meant hunting down a supposed criminal that posse eventually came to refer to any group organized to make a search or embark on a mission, and today one may read about posses organized for search and rescue efforts. In even broader use it can refer to any group, period. Sometimes nowadays that group is a gang or a rock band but it can as easily be any group—of politicians, models, architects, tourists, children, or what have you—acting together for some shared purpose.
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Examples of posse in a Sentence
Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 20 Nov. 2024
Those members of the posse all died horribly because Billy always gets his revenge.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2024
From her posse of friends and family to the details of her game day look, see the best photos of Swift at the Sept. 15 Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 16 Sep. 2024
Mack has also espoused his view that every sheriff should have his own posse.
—David Gilbert, WIRED, 24 Oct. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near posse
Cite this Entry
“Posse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/posse. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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posse
noun
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