Dictionary Home » Webster's New World College Dictionary » Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

Variant of confederacy

confederacy definition

con·fed·eracy (kən fedər ə sē)

noun pl. confederacies -·cies

  1. people, groups, nations, or states united for some common purpose
  2. a league or alliance formed by such a union; federation or confederation
  3. people united for an unlawful purpose; conspiracy

Etymology: ME & OFr confederacie < LL confoederatus: see confederate

confederacy Idioms

the Confederacy

the league of Southern states that seceded from the U.S. in 1860 & 1861; Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Tex., & Va.

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.