Etymologically
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federal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfed.ər.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin foedus (“covenant, league, treaty”), genitive foederis, and -al,[2][3][4] perhaps through French fédéral.[5][6] Latin foedus is related to fīdere (“to trust”) and fidēs (“faith”),[2][7][8] from Proto-Indo-European *bheidh- (“to trust, confide”).[5][9] Barnhart notes that the English spelling federal is recorded in 1737, earlier than the French.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In theology, relating to the covenants between God and man: 1645, as foederal,[2][10] or the 1640s.[5]

Semantic evolution

“Pertaining to a covenant or treaty” in general is from 1660,[10][7] and the political sense, “formed by agreement among independent states”, from 1707,[5][10] from phrases such as federal union, popularized in the formation of the United States in 1776–87.[5] Word Origins notes that it was first used of the United States government at the Continental Congress in 1783.[8] “Favouring a strong central government” is from 1788,[5][10] and federal as opposed to confederate came to mean a state whose central authority is independent within its sphere.[5] The Northern side in the American Civil War is Federal from 1861.[5][10]

Timeline

  • 1645 – theological, of covenants.[2][10]
  • 1707 – of a union of states.[10][5]
  • 1783 – of the United States government.[8]
  • 1788 – favouring central government.[5][10]
  • 1861 – the Union side in the Civil War.[5][10]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of a form of government in which states unite under a central authority while keeping some powers of their own.
  2. Of the central government of such a union, as distinct from its states.
  3. (often Federal) Supporting the Union in the American Civil War.
  4. (theology) Relating to God's covenants with humankind.

Noun

  1. A supporter of the Union, especially a Union soldier, in the American Civil War.
  2. (US) A federal agent or official.

Word family

  • federally
  • federalness
  • confederal
  • federalese
  • federalism
  • Federalist
  • federalization
  • federalize
  • federation
  • confederate
  • faith
  • fidelity
  • fiancé

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press