confederacy
[kuh n-fed-er-uh-see, -fed-ruh-see]
- an alliance between persons, parties, states, etc., for some purpose.
- a group of persons, parties, states, etc., united by such a confederacy.
- a combination of persons for unlawful purposes; conspiracy.
- the Confederacy. Confederate States of America.
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Origin of confederacy
Confederate States of America
- the group of 11 Southern states that seceded from the United States in 1860–61.
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Also called the Confederacy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
compact, league, alliance, federation, government, union, conspiracy, covenant, organization, confederation, bond, anschlussExamples from the Web for confederacy
Contemporary Examples
Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, summed up the Southern attitude in his 1861 Cornerstone Speech.
They severed the last railroad lifeline into Atlanta, making the Citadel of the Confederacy as it was touted no longer tenable.
And it is a situation impossible to brush under the carpet because the Confederacy transformed the Union.
But that bold suggestion went nowhere with the politicians, who stalled until the idea, along with the Confederacy, was dead.
While the dream of the Confederacy was kept alive, the men on the battlefield on both sides perished by the tens of thousands.
Historical Examples
Our Confederacy, fellow-citizens, can only be preserved by the same forbearance.
Moreover, this was the heart of the Confederacy and other unknown forces might be gathering.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
I wouldn't have got off my horse and leaned over that box to save the Confederacy.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
In all the Confederacy no houseful went to sleep that night in sweeter content.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
It had been given only four times in the long history of the Confederacy.
Join Our Gang?Sterling E. Lanier
confederacy
- a union or combination of peoples, states, etc; alliance; league
- a combination of groups or individuals for unlawful purposes
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Word Origin
C14: from Anglo-French confederacie, from Late Latin confoederātiō agreement, confederation
Confederacy
- the Confederacy another name for Confederate States of America
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Confederate States of America
- US history the 11 Southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi) that seceded from the Union in 1861, precipitating a civil war with the North. The Confederacy was defeated in 1865 and the South reincorporated into the US
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for confederacy
n.
late 14c., from Anglo-French confederacie (Old French confederacie), from stem of Latin confoederatio, from confoederare (see confederate). Earliest in reference to leagues of classical Greek states (Aetolian, Achaean, etc.), later of the Netherlands. The word was used of the United States of America under (and in) the Articles of Confederation (1777-1788). In reference to the breakaway Confederate States of America (1861-1865) from 1861.
Confederacy now usually implies a looser or more temporary association than confederation, which is applied to a union of states organized on an intentionally permanent basis. [OED]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Confederacy
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.