posse (n.)

1640s (in Anglo-Latin from early 14c.), shortening of posse comitatus "the force of the county" (1620s, in Anglo-Latin from late 13c.), from Medieval Latin posse "body of men; power," from Latin posse "have power, be able" (see potent) + comitatus "of the county," genitive of Late Latin word for "court palace" (see comitatus). General sense of "an armed force" is from 1640s; the modern slang meaning "small gang" probably is from Western movies.

Posse comitatus, the power of the county; in law, the body of men which the sheriff is empowered to call into service to aid and support him in the execution of the law, as in case of rescue, riot, forcible entry and occupation, etc. It includes all male persons above the age of fifteen. In Great Britain peers and clergymen are excluded by statute. The word comitatus is often omitted, and posse alone is used in the same sense. [Century Dictionary]

also from 1640s

Entries linking to posse

comitatus (n.)

1875, "body of companions or attendants," Latin collective of comes, comitem "a companion, an associate" (see count (n.1)). In posse comitatus it means "of a county."

potent (adj.)

early 15c., "mighty, very powerful, possessed of inherent strength," from Latin potentem (nominative potens) "powerful," present participle of posse "be able, be powerful," a contraction of potis esse "be powerful, be master," from potis "powerful, able, capable; possible;" of persons, "better, preferable; chief, principal; strongest, foremost," from PIE root *poti- "powerful; lord." "The exact process leading from potis + esse to the paradigm of posse is disputed" [de Vaan].

The meaning "having sexual power, capable of orgasm in sexual intercourse" (of men) is recorded by 1893.

posse "be able, be powerful," a contraction of potis esse "be powerful, be master,"

*poti-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "powerful; lord."

It forms all or part of: bashaw; compos mentis; despot; hospodar; host (n.1) "person who receives guests;" idempotent; impotent; omnipotent; pasha; plenipotentiary; posse; possess; possible; potence; potency; potent; potentate; potential; potentiate; potentiometer; power; totipotent.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit patih "master, husband;" Greek posis, Lithuanian patis "husband;" Latin potis "powerful, able, capable; possible."

Trends of posse

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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possible

occurring, or being done," mid-14c., from Old French possible and directly from Latin possibilis "that can be done," from posse...

police

1530s, "the regulation and control of a community" (similar in sense to policy (n.1)); from Middle French police "organized government, civil administration" (late 15c.), from Latin politia "civil administration," from Greek polis "city" (see polis). Until mid-19c. used in Englan

constabulary

1630s, "district under a constable," from Medieval Latin constabularia, from constabulus, Latinized form of Old French conestable (see constable). Meaning "organized body of peace officers in a district" is from 1837. Earlier (mid-15c.) it was an adjective, "pertaining to a const

law

Old English lagu (plural laga, combining form lah-) "ordinance, rule prescribed by authority, regulation; district governed by the same laws;" also sometimes "right, legal privilege," from Old Norse *lagu "law," collective plural of lag "layer, measure, stroke," literally "someth

awl

"pointed instrument for piercing small holes in leather, wood, etc.," Old English æl "awl, piercer," from Proto-Germanic *ælo (source also of Old Norse alr, Dutch aal, Middle Low German al, Old High German äla, German Ahle), which is of uncertain origin. The earliest English refe

chlamydia

type of genital infection, 1984, from the name of the bacteria that causes it (1966), which is formed from a Latinized combining form of Greek khlamys (genitive khlamydos) "short mantle, upper garment for men, military cloak," which is of unknown origin, + abstract noun ending -i

default

early 13c., "offense, crime, sin;" late 13c., "a failing or failure, failure to act," from Old French defaute (12c.) "fault, defect, failure, culpability, lack, privation," from Vulgar Latin *defallita "a deficiency or failure," past participle of *defallere, from Latin de "away"

interpolate

1610s, "to alter or enlarge (a writing) by inserting new material," from Latin interpolatus, past participle of interpolare "alter, freshen up, polish;" of writing, "falsify," from inter "among, between" (see inter-) + polare, which is related to polire "to smoothe, polish," from

dusk

"partial darkness, state between light and darkness, twilight," 1620s, from an earlier adjective dusk, from Middle English dosc (c. 1200) "obscure, not bright; tending to darkness, shadowy," having more to do with color than light, which is of uncertain origin, not found in Old E

patent

late 14c., "open letter or official document from some authority granting permission to do something; a licence granting an office, right, title, etc.," shortened from Anglo-French lettre patent (also in Medieval Latin litteræ patentes), literally "open letter" (late 13c.), from

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updated on September 12, 2020

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possessed

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possessive

posset