Etymology

posse comitatus

Today it means: The able-bodied men over 15 in a given county who can be summoned by the sheriff to help keep the peace, or arrest a felon; also a group of men so gathered. Full definition →

First used early 17th c.Late Latin posse comitātūs
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The story

  1. Late Latin · borrowed fromposse comitātūs“force of the county”
  2. English todayposse comitatus

From Late Latin posse comitātūs (“force of the county”, literally “power of the county”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from early 17th c. The able-bodied men over 15 in a given county who can be summoned by the sheriff to help keep the peace, or arrest a felon; also a group of men so gathered.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.