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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. 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 ² British  

/ -ˈfɛdrəsɪ, kənˈfɛdərəsɪ /

noun

1. another name for Confederate States of America

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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

noun

• 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

Back then, the two sides were called the Union and the Confederacy.

From Salon • May 1, 2026

Officials have moved in recent years to change names of other controversial figures — including those tied to the Confederacy and Father Junípero Serra.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026

Across the Union and the Confederacy, captured soldiers faced disease and hunger.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

“With all the resources of the Confederacy going to the war effort, inflation exploded,” Mr. McWilliams notes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

Their survival depended on ongoing diplomatic conversations between Wahunsonacock, the leader of the Powhatan Confederacy, and John Smith, leader of the Jamestown colony.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz