confederation

American  

[kuhn-fed-uh-rey-shuhn] / kənˌfɛd əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of confederating.

2. the state of being confederated.

3. a league or alliance.

   Synonyms:

   federation, coalition

4. a group of confederates, especially of states more or less permanently united for common purposes.

5. the Confederation, the union of the 13 original U.S. states under the Articles of Confederation 1781–89.

6. (initial capital letter) the federation of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, formed in 1867 and constituting the Dominion of Canada.

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Confederation ¹ British  

/ kənˌfɛdəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. history the original 13 states of the United States of America constituted under the Articles of Confederation and superseded by the more formal union established in 1789

2. the federation of Canada, formed with four original provinces in 1867 and since joined by eight more

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confederation ² British  

/ kənˌfɛdəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of confederating or the state of being confederated

2. a loose alliance of political units. The union of the Swiss cantons is the oldest surviving confederation Compare federation

3. (esp in Canada) another name for federation

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confederation Cultural  

1. A group of nations or states, or a government encompassing several states or political divisions, in which the component states retain considerable independence. The members of a confederation often delegate only a few powers to the central authority.

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Related Words

See alliance.

Discover More

Canada is officially a confederation of provinces.

The United States was governed as a confederation in the first few years of its independence (see Articles of Confederation).

Other Word Forms

• anticonfederationism noun
• anticonfederationist noun
• confederationism noun
• confederationist noun
• confederative adjective
• nonconfederation noun

Etymology

Origin of confederation

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin confoederātiō “agreement,” from confoederāt(us) “united” (past participle of confoederāre “to unite in a league”; confederate ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

Each group can have two Uefa teams at most but only one from the other five confederations.

From BBC

There can be no more than one team from the same confederation per group.

From BBC

The one exception is teams from UEFA, the massive confederation overseeing European soccer.

From Los Angeles Times

No group can have more than one country from the same confederation.

From BBC

The 48 participating teams will be placed into pots based on Fifa rankings and confederation constraints.

From BBC