posse

[ pos-ee ]

noun

1. posse comitatus.
2. a body or force armed with legal authority.
3. Slang. a group of friends or associates:

   hanging out with your posse; a posse of drug dealers.

posse

/ ˈpɒsɪ /

noun

1. Also calledposse comitatus the able-bodied men of a district assembled together and forming a group upon whom the sheriff may call for assistance in maintaining law and order
2. law possibility (esp in the phrase in posse )
3. slang.
   a Jamaican street gang in the US
4. informal.
   a group of friends or associates

Word History and Origins

Origin of posse¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from Medieval Latin posse “power, force,” noun use of Latin infinitive: “to be able, have power,” contraction of potis “able” + esse “to be”; potent ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of posse¹

C16: from Medieval Latin (n): power, strength, from Latin (vb): to be able, have power

Example Sentences

In the year to September 2024, there were 130 instances of someone trying to buy medicines illegal to posses without a prescription and instead receiving substances contaminated with nitazenes.

From BBC

She watched the cheerleaders and the veterans, the posse of sheriff’s deputies and the firetrucks, the passing faces in the crowd.

From Los Angeles Times

Plans for ashes left over from cremations are also part of the proposal, with the commission alleging that funeral directors posses "hundreds of thousands of sets of ashes which have not been collected".

From BBC

It’s the communication of friendship, of family, of the posse, the team, the gang.

From Los Angeles Times

“That was like my posse,” Ryder says as if that was a totally normal group of people to have as a posse.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• detachment