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It’s hard to pinpoint the exact origins of caucus, but some scholars think the word may have developed from an Algonquian term for a group of elders, leaders, or advisers. An early example of the word in use comes from John Adams, who in February of 1763 reported that the Boston “caucus club,” a group of politically active city elders, would soon meet and that, at the meetings, those present would “smoke tobacco till you [could not] see from one end of the garret to the other.” A similarly opaque smoke screen seems to cloud the history of caucus to this day.
Examples of caucus in a Sentence
Molly Gibbs, Sacbee.com, 2 Aug. 2025
Even so, four members of the caucus are not on the bill: Murphy; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and progressive Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
—Morgan Chalfant, semafor.com, 28 July 2025
Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
Perhaps that ability to tolerate tension explains why, even after voting against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and supporting some of former President Joe Biden’s nominees, Murkowski continues to caucus with the GOP.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 23 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Caucus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caucus. Accessed 15 Aug. 2025.
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caucus
noun
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