Meaning & use
confederacy
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Meanings
nouncountable
A group of states, organizations, or peoples joined together for a shared purpose, especially a political or military one.
Grammar: Countable: you can talk about one confederacy or several confederacies. Often used with 'a' or 'the'.
Patterns
- a confederacy of something
- form a confederacy
- join a confederacy
The five nations formed a confederacy to defend their shared borders.
Historians study how the confederacy of city-states held together for nearly two centuries.
A loose confederacy of local groups organized the protest.
proper nounproperAmerican
The Confederate States of America, the group of southern states that separated from the United States in 1860–61.
Grammar: Usually written with a capital C and the definite article: the Confederacy. Refers to a specific historical entity.
Patterns
- the Confederacy
- during the Confederacy
The Confederacy was defeated in 1865.
Several monuments to the Confederacy have been removed in recent years.
Word forms
| plural | confederacies |
|---|
Common combinations
- a loose confederacy
- The tribes operated as a loose confederacy rather than a single government.
- form a confederacy
- The smaller kingdoms decided to form a confederacy against the invaders.
- the Confederacy
- Lee commanded the Army of Northern Virginia for the Confederacy.
- a confederacy of states
- A confederacy of states can struggle to enforce central decisions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- alliance
- Alliance is the general word for any group working together; confederacy often suggests a looser, more permanent political union of states.
- federation
- A federation gives more power to the central government, while a confederacy usually keeps most power in the member states.
- league
- League is used for groups with a shared aim, often sports or politics, and sounds less formal than confederacy.
- coalition
- A coalition is usually temporary and formed for a specific goal; a confederacy is more lasting and structural.
Word family
- confederate adjective
- Relating to a confederacy, especially the Confederate States.
- confederate noun
- A member or supporter of a confederacy.
- confederation noun
- The act of joining in a confederacy, or the resulting union.
Commonly confused: confederacy or confederation? confederacy or federation?
confederacy vs confederation
Confederation can mean the same as confederacy, but it is also the usual term for a country made of semi-independent states, such as the Swiss Confederation.
confederacy vs federation
A federation has a strong central government; a confederacy has a weak one. Confusing the two can change the meaning of a historical sentence.
Practice
The southern states that left the Union in 1860–61 are known as ______.
Choose one answer.
The historical entity is a proper noun with the definite article: the Confederacy. 'A confederacy' is the general countable noun, not the specific name, and 'confederate' is an adjective or a person.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “confederacy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.