confédération

Forms

confédération f (plural confédérations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin cōnfoederātiō (“alliance, pact”), formed on the supine of cōnfoederō (“to unite by a league”).^[2][3][4][5] Old French had the form confédéraison in the 13th century.^[4] Picoche puts the word in the family of Latin fidēs (“faith”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *bheidh- (“to trust”).^[6]

Littré compares Old Occitan confederation, Spanish confederación and Italian confederazione.^[7] Wiktionary treats it as inherited from Old French confederacion.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1358 for a temporary alliance of several persons or powers in a common cause:^[2][3] a royal letter on Étienne Marcel, provost of the merchants of Paris, charges him and others with conspiracions, monopoles, traysons, rebellions, confederacions armées “conspiracies, plots, treasons, rebellions, armed leagues”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle French the word meant an alliance or treaty, as in Oresme's avoir confederation et alliances à gens d'autres citez and a letter of Charles VII on a confederation perpetuele with the Duke of Savoy.^[7] In Poland it named the armed associations of nobles formed when the diets were paralysed by the liberum veto.^[7]

At the end of the 18th century it came to mean a lasting union of states that keep their own sovereignty but act as one abroad: Condorcet wrote of confédérations perpétuelles in 1794, Crèvecœur of la confédération des États-Unis in 1801, and la confédération helvétique is found in 1807.^[2][5] From 1895, when the Confédération générale du travail was founded at the Limoges congress, it also names a grouping of federations or associations, which Turgot had already foreshadowed in 1755.^[2][5][4]

Timeline

• 1358 – Confederacions armées “armed leagues” in a royal letter.^[2][7]
• 1598 – The derivative confédéral appears in Switzerland.^[5]
• 1794 – Condorcet uses it of a permanent union of states.^[2][5]
• 1801 – Crèvecœur writes of la confédération des États-Unis.^[2]
• 1807 – La confédération helvétique is recorded.^[2][5]
• 1895 – The Confédération générale du travail is founded.^[2][4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lasting union of states that keep their sovereignty but delegate some powers to a common central body: la Confédération helvétique.^{[2][8][9][10]}
2. A grouping of associations or fédérations, professional, sporting or trade-union: la Confédération générale du travail.^[8][9][10]
3. (historical) An alliance of several powers in a common cause.^[7][2]
4. (historical) In Poland, an armed league of nobles.^[7]

Word family

• confédéral

Related words

• confédérer
• confédéré
• fédération
• fédéral
• Latin cōnfoederātiō

Usage notes

As a proper noun, la Confédération names the Swiss Confederation, the union of the provinces of British North America that formed Canada, and the Confederacy of the American Civil War.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)