You searched for: “federal
federal (adjective) (not comparable)
1. A form of government in which governmental power is shared between a central government and individual states, provinces, regions, etc. which give up some political powers; such as, foreign affairs, to the central government while keeping a limited measure of self-government: "A federal country or system is one in which individual states make their own laws, but a national government is responsible for areas such as military defense and foreign policy."
2. Relating to, involving, or typical of a classical style of architecture, decoration, and furniture popular in the United States in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries.
3. Etymology: from the 1640's, as a theological term, from French fédéral which came from Latin foedus, foederis, "covenant, league, treaty, alliance"; related to fides, "faith".

The meaning, "pertaining to a treaty" is from the 1650's and led to the political sense of "a state formed by agreement among independent states" from 1707; then from phrases like "federal union" it became "union based on a treaty" then in 1776-1787, it became a common reference to the formation of the United States of America.

This entry is located in the following unit: fid-, fidel- (page 3)
Word Entries containing the term: “federal
federal deficit
This entry is located in the following unit: Pleonasms or Tautological Redundancies (page 8)