Caucus

Caucus, the name given to a kind of inner committee that nominates candidates for Parliament, and is supposed to act generally for a constituency or party at large. The name and practice were adopted from America by the advanced Liberal party in Great Britain. There is some dispute about the origin of the name, which appears as early as 1753, in John Adams's diary. Some think it from the Mod. Gk. word kaukos, a cup, and to have a social club-like signification, while others refer it to a Red Indian origin, since Pocahontas's Captain John Smith uses words somewhat resembling it in reference to Indian councils.