Posses
[pos-ee] /ˈpɒs i/
noun
1.
.
2.
a body or force armed with legal authority.
/ˈpɒsɪ/
noun
1.
(US) Also called posse 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
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). Modern slang meaning “small gang” is probably from Western movies.
noun
: I thought posses were Jamaican. Language changes very fast here, now it just means a small gang
[1980s+ Black teenagers; probably fr the sheriff’s posse seen so often in cowboy movies]
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