posse

See also: Posse

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin posse comitatus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒ.si/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑ.si/
• Rhymes: -ɒsi

Noun

posse (plural posses)

1. (US) A group of people summoned to help law enforcement.
2. (US) A search party.
3. (US, Jamaica) A criminal gang.
4. (by extension) A group of associates.

Related terms

• vigilante

Translations

A group of people summoned to help law enforcement

• Finnish: järjestyspartio
• German: Trupp (de) m

• Russian: вооружённый (ru) (vooružónnyj) отря́д (ru) (otrjád)
• Spanish: posse comitatus m

A search party

• Finnish: etsintäpartio

• Russian: поиско́вая (ru) (poiskóvaja) гру́ппа (ru) (grúppa)

A criminal gang

• Danish: bande (da) n
• Finnish: jengi (fi)
• French: bande (fr) f
• German: Bande (de) f

• Portuguese: bando (pt) m
• Russian: ша́йка (ru) f (šájka)
• Spanish: cuadrilla armada f

A group of associates

• Swedish: trupp (sv), hop (sv), skara (sv)

Anagrams

• ESOPs, pesos, poses, s'pose, sopes, speos, spose

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Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpos.se/, [ˈpɔs.sɛ]

Verb

posse

1. present active infinitive of possum  "to be able (to)"

Noun

posse

1. power, ability
2. (scholastic Latin) potentiality, capability of being
3. (post-classical) force, body of men

References

• "possum", see "Posse as subst. (poet.)" in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• posse in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum tenere vix posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter: risum aegre continere posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: lacrimas tenere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: fletum cohibere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to speak for emotion: prae lacrimis loqui non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to sleep: somnum capere non posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to have great influence with a person; to have considerable weight: multum auctoritate valere, posse apud aliquem
    
  • (ambiguous) to have great weight as a speaker: multum dicendo valere, posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to be unable to say all one wants: verbis non omnia exsequi posse
    
  • (ambiguous) to have a powerful navy: navibus plurimum posse
    

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin posse (“power, ability”).

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.sɨ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.si/
• (South Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.se/
• Hyphenation: pos‧se

Noun

posse f (plural posses)

1. possession, land
2. (uncountable) ownership
3. (uncountable, politics) command
   • 2015 November 26, São José Almeida, “Cavaco deverá sublinhar desafios ao dar posse a Costa”, in Público‎^[1]:

     No Palácio da Ajuda, tomarão posse todos os membros do Governo, os 17 ministros e os 41 secretários de Estado, numa cerimónia conjunta à imagem do que aconteceu a 30 de Outubro, com o XX Governo, liderado por Pedro Passos Coelho.