Posse
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
This word is used substantively to signify a possibility. For example, such a thing is in posse, that is, such a thing may possibly be. When the thing is in being, the phrase to express it is, in esse. POSSE COMITATUS (Lat.) The power of the county. Citizens summoned by the sheriff to assist him in the execution of process.