confederacy

[ kuh n-fed-er-uh-see, -fed-ruh-see ]

/ kənˈfɛd ər ə si, -ˈfɛd rə si /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR confederacy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural con·fed·er·a·cies.

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.

Words nearby confederacy

confectionary, confectioner, confectioners' sugar, confectionery, confed., confederacy, confederal, confederate, confederate jasmine, confederate memorial day, confederate states of america

Origin of confederacy

1350–1400; Middle English confederacie < Anglo-French; see confederate, -acy

Definition for confederacy (2 of 2)

Confederate States of America

plural noun

the group of 11 Southern states that seceded from the United States in 1860–61.

Also called the Confederacy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for confederacy

Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, summed up the Southern attitude in his 1861 Cornerstone Speech.
Steve Scalise Shows There’s a Fine Line Between Confederate & Southern|Lloyd Green|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They severed the last railroad lifeline into Atlanta, making the Citadel of the Confederacy as it was touted no longer tenable.
Atlanta’s Fall Foretold The End Of Civil War Bloodshed|Marc Wortman|September 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And it is a situation impossible to brush under the carpet because the Confederacy transformed the Union.
One U.S. Constitution Just Wasn’t Enough|Tom Arnold-Forster|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But that bold suggestion went nowhere with the politicians, who stalled until the idea, along with the Confederacy, was dead.
How I Learned to Hate Robert E. Lee|Christopher Dickey|June 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

While the dream of the Confederacy was kept alive, the men on the battlefield on both sides perished by the tens of thousands.
How I Learned to Hate Robert E. Lee|Christopher Dickey|June 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like a great wave coming to its flood, the armed host of the Confederacy was moving to break at Gettysburg and recede.
Charles Carleton Coffin|William Elliot Griffis, D. D.
The Confederacy was finally beaten because it was flanked in the west and cut in two at Vicksburg.
The Ifs of History|Joseph Edgar Chamberlin
Priest and youth are friends by the memory of the dead soldier of the Confederacy.
The Little Lady of Lagunitas|Richard Henry Savage
I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different States of this Confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches|Various
Meanwhile a relieving squadron of fifty vessels had sailed from Athens and the rest of the confederacy for Egypt.
The History of the Peloponnesian War|Thucydides

British Dictionary definitions for confederacy (1 of 3)

confederacy

/ (kənˈfɛdərəsɪ, -ˈfɛdrəsɪ) /

noun plural -cies

a union or combination of peoples, states, etc; alliance; league

a combination of groups or individuals for unlawful purposes

Derived forms of confederacy

confederal, adjective

Word Origin for confederacy

C14: from Anglo-French confederacie, from Late Latin confoederātiō agreement, confederation

British Dictionary definitions for confederacy (2 of 3)

Confederacy

/ (kənˈfɛdərəsɪ, -ˈfɛdrəsɪ) /

noun

the Confederacy another name for Confederate States of America

British Dictionary definitions for confederacy (3 of 3)

Confederate States of America

pl n

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for confederacy

Confederacy

The Confederate States of America; the government formed in 1861 by southern states that proclaimed their secession from the United States. Jefferson Davis was its president. The Confederacy was dissolved after the Civil War. (Compare Union.)

confederacy

noun, plural con·fed·er·a·cies.

Words related to confederacy

Words nearby confederacy

Origin of confederacy

Definition for confederacy (2 of 2)

plural noun

Examples from the Web for confederacy

British Dictionary definitions for confederacy (1 of 3)

noun plural -cies

Derived forms of confederacy

Word Origin for confederacy

British Dictionary definitions for confederacy (2 of 3)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for confederacy (3 of 3)

pl n

Cultural definitions for confederacy