Federation
nounA union of states, groups, or organisations under a central authority, with each member keeping some of its own powers.
How to spell federation
10 letters · 4 syllables
How to pronounce federation
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does federation mean?
- nounA union of states, groups, or organisations under a central authority, with each member keeping some of its own powers.
Federation in a sentence
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The new federation gave each member state control over its own schools.
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The trade unions formed a national federation to negotiate together.
Where does federation come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word descends from the Latin foedus (genitive foederis), which meant a treaty, a compact, or a solemn league between peoples. From that noun Latin built the verb foederare, 'to join by treaty', and Late Latin coined foederatio for the act of forming such an alliance. English took the word in through French federation in the 1600s, originally describing any binding agreement before it settled into its modern political sense of states uniting under a central government while keeping their own powers. The same foedus root is a cousin of words built on fides, 'faith' or 'trust', the idea being that a federation rests on a pledge of good faith. For spelling, it helps to remember that single 'd' in feder-, since the word carries no doubled letters despite its weighty sound.
How the word is built
- feder- (from Latin foedus, foederis: treaty, league)
- -ation (noun of process or result)
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