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Nemessos
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Mon, 21 Jan 08 03:20 PM
Does caucau mean 'meeting'? (I can't find this word in the online dictionaries!)
Thank you.
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France
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Nemessos
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khoff
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Mon, 21 Jan 08 04:03 PM
Are you thinking of the word "caucus"? It refers to a certain type of political meeting, for choosing a candidate.
Joined on
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Senior Member
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Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert)
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Philip
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Mon, 21 Jan 08 04:03 PM
 Nemessos wrote: | |
Does caucau mean 'meeting'? (I can't find this word in the online dictionaries!)
Thank you. |
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The context in which you found it would help. My guess is that it's a typo of either 'Cauca' (river in Columbia) or 'caucus' (the events that are happening in US politics as we speak).
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At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen
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Nemessos
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Tue, 22 Jan 08 10:23 AM
Yes, it is the events that are happening in US politics. Thank you Khoff and Philip !! I came across this word while doing the 'Expand your vocabulary and feed the word', and it stated that caucus means 'meeting'. Any idea why the US political events are referred to as 'caucus' ??
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NewPhilologist
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Tue, 22 Jan 08 11:00 AM
The Oxford English Dictionary says the following about the etymology of the word "caucus": Arose in New England: origin obscure.
Alleged to have been used in Boston U.S. before 1724; quotations go back to 1763. Already in 1774 Gordon (Hist. Amer. Rev.)
could obtain no ‘satisfactory account of the origin of the name’. Mr.
Pickering, in 1816, as a mere guess, thought it ‘not improbable that caucus might be a corruption of caulkers',
the word “meetings” being understood’. For this, and the more detailed
statement quoted in Webster, there is absolutely no evidence beyond the
similarity of sound; and the word was actually in use before the date
(1770) of the event mentioned in Webster. Dr. J. H. Trumbull (Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 1872) has suggested possible derivation from an Algonkin word cau´-cau-as´u, which occurs in Capt. Smith's Virginia 23, as Caw-cawaassough
‘one who advises, urges, encourages’, from a vb. meaning primarily ‘to
talk to’, hence ‘to give counsel, advise, encourage’, and ‘to urge,
promote, incite to action’. For such a derivation there is claimed the
general suitability of the form and sense, and it is stated that Indian
names were commonly taken by clubs and secret associations in New
England; but there appears to be no direct evidence.
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Nemessos
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Tue, 22 Jan 08 12:46 PM
| NewPhilologist wrote: | The Oxford English Dictionary says the following about the etymology of the word "caucus":
Arose in New England: origin obscure.
Alleged to have been used in Boston U.S. before 1724; quotations go back to 1763. Already in 1774 Gordon (Hist. Amer. Rev.)
could obtain no ‘satisfactory account of the origin of the name’. Mr.
Pickering, in 1816, as a mere guess, thought it ‘not improbable that caucus might be a corruption of caulkers',
the word “meetings” being understood’. For this, and the more detailed
statement quoted in Webster, there is absolutely no evidence beyond the
similarity of sound; and the word was actually in use before the date
(1770) of the event mentioned in Webster. Dr. J. H. Trumbull (Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 1872) has suggested possible derivation from an Algonkin word cau´-cau-as´u, which occurs in Capt. Smith's Virginia 23, as Caw-cawaassough
‘one who advises, urges, encourages’, from a vb. meaning primarily ‘to
talk to’, hence ‘to give counsel, advise, encourage’, and ‘to urge,
promote, incite to action’. For such a derivation there is claimed the
general suitability of the form and sense, and it is stated that Indian
names were commonly taken by clubs and secret associations in New
England; but there appears to be no direct evidence.
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Thank you NewPhilologist for the research and the posting of the explanation. In fact, now that I think of it, 'causer' is a French slang meaning 'to talk'!!
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