confederation
/kənˌfedəˈeɪʃən/kuhn-feh-dur-AY-shuhn
/kənˌfɛdɚˈeɪʃən/kuhn-feh-dur-AY-shuhn
Meaningthe act of confederating
Common meaning: a union of states
- conwith, together; thoroughly
- federa treatyLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 765 · scan
- atverb or adjective ending: to make, having
- ionnoun ending: act or result
‘with, together’ + ‘a treaty’ → confederation
Journey through time
- Latinfoedus, foederis‘a treaty’
- Englishconfederate‘joined in league’
- Englishformed in English from confederateconfederation‘a union of states’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from confederate + -ion.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), CONFEDERATE, p.128 · scan
Roots
- foedus, foederis Latin “a treaty”
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