federal

See also: fédéral and Federal

English

Alternative forms

• fœderal (obsolete)
• fœderall (obsolete)

Etymology

From French fédéral, from Latin stem foeder- of foedus (“covenant, league, treaty, alliance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛdəɹəl/, /ˈfɛdɹəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

federal (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an agreement or covenant between parties, especially between nations.
   • 1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of Providence over Publick States”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of God. […], London: […] W[illiam] Rogers, S[amuel] Smith, and B[enjamin] Walford: […], →OCLC, 3rd book, paragraph 27, page 113:

     Yet the Romans, taking them [the Carthaginians] at an Advantage, vvhen they vvere in Streights; compell'd them, contrary to all Fœderal Right and Juſtice, by Nevv Articles, both to part with Sardinia, their Lavvful Territory, and alſo to pay them for the future, a Double Tribute.

2. Pertaining to the national government level in a federal nation, as opposed to state, provincial, county, city, or town.
3. (slang) Intrusive; airing out another's personal affairs.

Derived terms

• anti-federal
• Federal Capital Territory
• federal case
• federal city
• Federal City
• federal council
• federal district
• federal government
• federalism
• federalist
• federalization
• federalize
• federally
• federal municipality
• federalness
• federal question
• federal question jurisdiction
• Federal Republic of Germany
• federal state
• federal subject
• federal territory
• Federal Way
• federal yellow
• make a federal case out of something
• nonfederal
• prefederal
• quasifederal
• unfederal

 

Translations

pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an agreement or covenant between parties, especially between nations

• Arabic: فِدِرَالِيّ m (fidirāliyy), اِتِّحَادِيّ m (ittiḥādiyy)
• Armenian: դաշնային (hy) (dašnayin)
• Belarusian: федэраты́ўны (fjederatýŭny)
• Bulgarian: съю́зен (bg) (sǎjúzen)
• Catalan: federal (ca)
• Czech: federalistický, svazový (cs)
• Danish: føderal (da)
• Dutch: federaal (nl), bonds- (nl)
• Esperanto: federacia
• Finnish: federaalinen (fi), federatiivinen (fi)
• French: fédéral (fr) m, fédérale (fr) f
• Galician: federal m or f
• Georgian: ფედერალური (pederaluri), მოკავშირე (moḳavšire)
• German: Bundes- (de), föderal (de)
• Hungarian: szövetségi (hu)
• Indonesian: serikat (id)
• Irish: cónaidhme, cónaidhmeach
• Italian: federale (it) m or f
• Kazakh: федеративті (federativtı), федеративтік (federativtık)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: føderal

  Nynorsk: føderal

• Polish: związkowy (pl)
• Portuguese: federal (pt), federativo (pt)
• Romanian: federal (ro), federativ (ro)
• Russian: федерати́вный (ru) (federatívnyj), сою́зный (ru) (sojúznyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: са́везнӣ

  Roman: savezni (sh)

• Spanish: federal (es)
• Swedish: federal (sv)
• Tagalog: sang-isahan
• Ukrainian: федерати́вний m (federatývnyj)
• Urdu: وفاقی (wafāqī)

pertaining to the national government level

• Arabic: فِدِرَالِيّ m (fidirāliyy), اِتِّحَادِيّ m (ittiḥādiyy)
• Armenian: դաշնային (hy) (dašnayin)
• Bulgarian: федера́лен (federálen)
• Burmese: ဖက်ဒရယ် (hpakda.rai)
• Catalan: federal (ca)
• Czech: federální (cs), spolkový (cs)
• Danish: føderal (da)
• Dutch: federaal (nl), bonds- (nl)
• Esperanto: federacia
• Finnish: liittovaltion
• French: fédéral (fr) m, fédérale (fr) f
• Georgian: ფედერალური (pederaluri), ფედერაციული (pederaciuli)
• German: Bundes- (de), föderal (de)
• Greek: ομοσπονδιακός (el) (omospondiakós)
• Hebrew: פדרלי
• Hungarian: államközi (hu), szövetségi (hu)
• Irish: feidearálach
• Italian: federale (it) m or f
• Kazakh: федеративті (federativtı), федеративтік (federativtık)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: føderal

  Nynorsk: føderal

• Polish: federalny (pl)
• Portuguese: federal (pt)
• Romanian: federal (ro)
• Russian: федера́льный (ru) (federálʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фе̏дера̄лан, фе̏дера̄лнӣ

  Roman: federalan (sh), federalni (sh)

• Slovak: federálny
• Slovene: zvezdi
• Spanish: federal (es)
• Swedish: federal (sv)
• Tagalog: sang-isahan
• Urdu: وفاق (wafāq)

Noun

federal (plural federals)

1. a federal agent
   1. (US) A law-enforcement official of the FBI
   2. (US, historical) A unionist soldier in the American Civil War.
2. A supporter of federation.

Synonyms

• fed (noun)

Translations

a law-enforcement officer of the FBI

• Bulgarian: федерален агент m (federalen agent)
• Finnish: liittovaltion poliisi
• Georgian: ფედერალი (pederali), ფედერალური აგენტი (pederaluri agenṭi)
• Hebrew: סוכן פדרלי m
• Russian: федера́л (ru) m (federál)

Anagrams

• Elfreda

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fə.ðəˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fe.ðeˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

federal m or f (masculine and feminine plural federals)

1. federal

Derived terms

• federalisme
• federalista
• federalment

Noun

federal m (plural federals)

1. blackbird (any of various birds in the New World family Icteridae)

Derived terms

• federal capgroc
• federal cap-roig
• federal safrà

Further reading

• “federal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “federal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “federal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “federal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch federaal, from French fédéral, from Latin stem foeder- of foedus (“covenant, league, treaty, alliance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fɛdəˈral]
• Hyphenation: fè‧dê‧ral
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

federal

1. federal.

Related terms

• federalis
• federalisme
• federalistis
• federasi

 

Further reading

• “federal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /fe.deˈɾaw/ [fe.deˈɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨ.dɨˈɾal/ [fɨ.ðɨˈɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨ.dɨˈɾal/ [fɨ.ðɨˈɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨ.dɨˈɾa.li/ [fɨ.ðɨˈɾa.li]

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: fe‧de‧ral

Adjective

federal m or f (plural federais)

1. federal

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French fédéral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fe.deˈral/

Adjective

federal m or n (feminine singular federală, masculine plural federali, feminine and neuter plural federale)

1. federal

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	federal		federală		federali	federale
	definite	federalul		federala		federalii	federalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	federal		federale		federali	federale
	definite	federalului		federalei		federalilor	federalelor

Related terms

• federație

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fedeˈɾal/ [fe.ð̞eˈɾal]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fe‧de‧ral

Adjective

federal m or f (masculine and feminine plural federales)

1. federal

Derived terms

• ciudad federal
• distrito federal
• federalmente
• sujeto federal
• `Distrito Federal

 

Noun

federal m (plural federales)

1. a federal law enforcement officer
   1. (Mexico) federal law enforcement officer belonging to the Mexican government
   2. (US) federal law enforcement officer belonging to the United States
2. the scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus

Related terms

• confederación
• federación

 

Descendants

• English: federale, Federale

Further reading

• “federal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Adjective

federal (not comparable)

1. federal

Declension

Inflection of federal

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	federal	—	—
neuter singular	federalt	—	—
plural	federala	—	—
masculine plural2	federale	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	federale	—	—
all	federala	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

See also

• delstatlig
• global
• kommunal
• lokal
• nationell
• regional
• statlig