Caucus
Well, this is a complex word.
A caucus can be a private meeting of members of a political party to choose candidates or determine policy.
A caucus can also refer to a group of people within an organization. This group influences through legislation. The Women’s Caucus, for example.
Caucus can also act as a verb meaning to meet in a caucus.
For example: Pending further discussion, the meeting was caucused.
I really thought caucus was a Latin word. I mean, look at it. It sounds like a Latin word. It looks like a Latin word. Like so many Latin words, it hangs out in government buildings.
But, no. It’s not a Latin word.
It turns out no one is entirely sure where this word comes from. The best guesses are not what I was expecting. Either caucus comes from the Alogonquian word caucausu, meaning counselor, or elder. Or, it may have come from a political club in Boston named after a Greek word for cup, kaukos.
Similar words: conference, council, inner circle, powwow, or round table.
