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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.
Examples of posse in a Sentence
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
Being part of a successful posse could earn a man a share of the reward money put up by the railroad, which was just a pittance compared to what the robbers took while the lawmen chasing them lived in the saddle for days or even weeks.
—Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Mar. 2025
After further cementing his commercial breakout over the last several months with posse cuts, pop superstar co-signs and his first solo charting tracks, the 26-year-old Bronx hitmaker’s star is still rising.
—Brenton Blanchet, People.com, 7 Mar. 2025
Spending countless hours in the saddle, riding with posses, serving warrants, attending court, conducting bankruptcy sales on the courthouse steps — these were the things deputies did routinely.
—Richard Selcer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for posse
Cite this Entry
“Posse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/posse. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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posse
noun
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