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It’s hard to pinpoint the exact origins of caucus, but some scholars think the word may have developed from an Algonquian term for a group of elders, leaders, or advisers. An early example of the word in use comes from John Adams, who in February of 1763 reported that the Boston “caucus club,” a group of politically active city elders, would soon meet and that, at the meetings, those present would “smoke tobacco till you [could not] see from one end of the garret to the other.” A similarly opaque smoke screen seems to cloud the history of caucus to this day.
Examples of caucus in a Sentence
Allison Pecorin, ABC News, 5 Apr. 2025
The caucus consists of Reps. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati, Christine Cockley, D-Columbus, Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, Karen Brownlee, D-Symmes Township, and Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson.
—J.d. Davidson | The Center Square, The Washington Examiner, 4 Apr. 2025
Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 4 Apr. 2025
Ultimately, the Senate passed the six-month CR with a 54-46 vote Friday, with only Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, voting for the measure from the Democratic Party conference.
—Filip Timotija, The Hill, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for caucus
Cite this Entry
“Caucus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caucus. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
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caucus
noun
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