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• confederacy
  confederacy

  noun

  an alliance between persons, parties, states, etc., for some purpose.
• Confederacy
  Confederacy

  noun

  another name for Confederate States of America

confederacy

American  

[kuhn-fed-er-uh-see, -fed-ruh-see] / kənˈfɛd ər ə si, -ˈfɛd rə si /

noun

• confederacies
  plural

1. an alliance between persons, parties, states, etc., for some purpose.

2. a group of persons, parties, states, etc., united by such a confederacy.

3. a combination of persons for unlawful purposes; conspiracy.

4. the Confederacy. Confederate States of America.

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Confederacy ¹ British  

/ -ˈfɛdrəsɪ, kənˈfɛdərəsɪ /

noun

1. another name for Confederate States of America

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confederacy ² British  

/ -ˈfɛdrəsɪ, kənˈfɛdərəsɪ /

noun

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

2. a combination of groups or individuals for unlawful purposes

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Confederacy Cultural  

1. 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.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• confederal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• confederacies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of confederacy

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English confederacie, from Anglo-French, equivalent to Late Latin confoederāt(us) “united” (past participle of confoederāre “to unite in a league”; see confederate) + -ia -y ³ ( def. )

Explanation

A confederacy is a political union. The most famous American confederacy consisted of the southern states who fought the northern states in the American Civil War. When you confederate — that is, join together for a common purpose — what you get is a confederacy. Americans will never forget a well-known but ill-fated confederacy, the Confederate States of America: an unrecognized state that formed in 1861, uniting the slave states that left the United States at the time of the Civil War. Any such political union could be called a confederacy (or a federation). When you see the word confederacy, think of togetherness in the political realm.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

confederacy Confederacy confederacies

In the confederacy, Georgia enacted a similar 15-day grace period, while Florida law provided an extra 20 days.

From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2026

“This was one way of shifting enslaved labor from agriculture to industry, a necessity for the confederacy during the Civil War,” says Lichtenstein.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025

Known as “Lament for Confederation,” it was a landmark moment in First Nations history, calling out the meaning of the confederacy and the impact of colonization on Indigenous peoples.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024

This confederacy of society’s richest and most powerful people is determined to ruin Benny’s life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2024

Mr. Lincoln hadn’t even sat down in his big presidential chair, and already seven states were breaking away, forming their own confederacy.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Texas became a U.S. state in 1845 and seceded from the union to join the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

As the U.S. plunged into Civil War in 1861, both the Union and Confederacy sought to link their side to God.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026

It commemorates the day—June 19, 1865—when news of emancipation reached people in the deepest parts of the former Confederacy in Galveston, Texas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

At a subsequent meeting of the city’s Commission on History, Dale Theiling, one of the commissioners, explained that Charleston had agreed to release the monument to the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

The Black Thursday of the Confederacy has arrived.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

Among township societies such as the Iroquois, groups of towns joined to form political confederacies.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

There was talk that states might further align themselves into various geographical confederacies and suffer the obvious inefficiencies and jealousies inherent in such arrangements.

From Salon ● May 10, 2020

They also coalesced in larger confederacies when necessary; Europeans would know them as Creeks or Choctaws.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

Without Napoleon Europe could have remained some rough confederacies of fiefdoms, each forever squabbling, no unified Germany or Italy, Russia too big to succeed fractures into more manageable regions, etc.

From New York Times ● Nov. 6, 2017

The natural result was the formation of numerous leagues and confederacies for the suppression of anarchy and the protection of trade and industry.

From A Source Book of Medi?val History Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance by Frederic Austin Ogg