1620s, "Spanish legislative council," from Spanish and Portuguese junta "council, meeting, convention," from Medieval Latin iuncta "joint," from Latin iuncta, fem. past participle of iungere "to join" (see jugular).Meaning "political or military group in power" first recorded 1640s as junto (from confusion with Spanish nouns ending in -o), originally with reference to the Cabinet Council of Charles I. Modern spelling in this sense is from 1714; popularized 1808 in connection with councils formed across Spain to resist Napoleon.