name · noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/kənˈfɛdəɹəsi/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:K AH0 N F EH1 D ER0 AH0 S IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:K AH0 N F EH1 D R AH0 S IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
The collection of American states that seceded from the United States in 1860–61, and fought against the Union in the American Civil War.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
An alliance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A state where the sovereign constituent units delegate their authority to the centre.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: government, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: confederation
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Specifically, an instance of a decentralized governing structure among the indigenous peoples of North America.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
The Blackfoot, Iroquois, and Sioux peoples all were governed as confederacies. There were also multi-ethnic confederacies, such as the Iron Confederacy made up of the Plains Cree, Assiniboine, Stoney, and Saulteaux.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: conspiracy
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: agreement, understanding
Narrower terms: conspiracy of silence
6
noun
Meaning 6
a group of conspirators banded together to achieve some harmful or illegal purpose
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: conspiracy
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: set, circle, band, lot
7
noun
Meaning 7
a union of political organizations
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: confederation, federation
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: union
Narrower terms: nation, Creek Confederacy, Hanseatic League
8
noun
Meaning 8
the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Confederate States, Confederate States of America, South, Dixie, Dixieland
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: geographical area, geographic area, geographical region, geographic region
History
Etymology
From Middle English confederacie, from Anglo-Norman confederacie, from Latin cōnfoederātiō. Doublet of confederation.
Across languages
Translations
13 source translations are retained for this English entry.
French:
Confédération
— Confederate States of America
German:
Konföderation
— Confederate States of America
Irish:
an Chónaidhm
— Confederate States of America
Polish:
Konfederacja
— Confederate States of America