Etymograph

English

caucus

Caucus may come from Medieval Latin caucus ‘drinking vessel’.

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500caucus1‘drinking vessel’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1788caucus1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English caucus
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1788, William Gordon, The History of the Rise: “He conferred with Mr. Warren of Plymouth upon the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500caucusWiktionary, English caucus‘drinking vessel’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1788caucusWiktionary, English caucus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1788, William Gordon, The History of the Rise: “He conferred with Mr. Warren of Plymouth upon the…”

The story

Often claimed to be from an Algonquian language; transcribed words such as cawaassough and caucauasu meaning "counselor, elder, adviser" appear in early texts. A popular folk etymology attested in Great Leaders and National Issues of 1896 stated: "In the early part of the eighteenth century a number of caulkers connected with the shipping business in the North End of Boston held a meeting for consultation.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted. That meeting was the germ of the political caucuses which have formed so prominent a feature of our government ever since its organization." American Heritage Dictionary states the term is taken from the Caucus Club of Boston in the 1760s, possibly from Medieval Latin caucus (‘drinking vessel’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Medieval Latin caucus

Today it means

noun A usually preliminary meeting of party members to nominate candidates for public office or delegates to be sent to a nominating convention, or to confer regarding policy.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Medieval Latin caucus / caucus

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