During President Obama’s press conference on the sequestration cuts this afternoon, CNN’s Jessica Yellin asked him if it was possible to invite Congress to the White House and “refuse to let them leave.”

“Mr. President, to your question, what could you do — first of all, couldn’t you just have them down here and refuse to let them leave the room until you have a deal?” she asked.

The question drew laughter from Yellin’s colleagues and a smile from the President who assured her that “he was not a dictator.”

“But isn’t that part of leadership?” Yellin interrupted. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but isn’t . . .”

Obama continued by saying that the idea that somehow he could get members of Congress to work together was mistaken as he didn’t have “a secret formula or secret sauce” to make it work.

That, of course, would be the ultimate “sequestration” as Nancy Pelosi insisted to reporters this week, the word “sequester” is actually derived from the Latin word for “to hold hostage.”

Thanks to CNN’s Gut Check, however, we know that, “the etymology of the word sequester, according to Merriam Webster, is the Latin word “sequestratus.” According to the 1879 publication of “A Latin Dictionary, the word “sequestratus” means 1.) separate, remove; 2.) place/surrender into hands of trustee.”