Other forms: caucuses
A caucus is a meeting of a party's members to decide policy. A party caucus, the Iowa caucuses, caucus meeting.
In American politics it also names a way of choosing candidates: voters gather in a room, argue and physically divide into groups, which takes hours and rewards organisation over turnout. A caucus is also a grouping within a legislature. Note that the origin of the word is unknown.
1nouncaucusA meeting of a party's members to decide policy.
“The party's caucus met behind closed doors to choose its new leader.”
caucus is a political meeting.
Caucus is an American word of unknown origin. A derivation from an Algonquian word for an adviser has been suggested and not proved.
Medieval Latin
caucus — drinking vessel
English, today
caucus
unknown. Often claimed to be from an alg 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. 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”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA