confederate

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /kənˈfɛdərɪt/ UK /kənˈfedərət/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an ally or accomplice; united in a league

His confederate kept watch while he forced the lock.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an ally or accomplice;... ally accomplice associate partner collaborator conspirator allied

Opposites

adversary opponent enemy

Word family

Derived forms confederation confederacy

Related forms confederation confederacy federal

Simplified etymology

Confederate, recorded in late Middle English, comes from Latin confoederatus, meaning “joined together in a league or treaty.” It is ultimately related to Latin foedus, “treaty” or “agreement,” whose base was also associated with trust.

Etymology

From Late Latin confoederatus, past participle of confoederare ('to unite in a league'), from com- ('together') + foederare ('to establish by treaty'), from foedus ('league, treaty').

confoederare Latin foedus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# confederate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kənˈfɛdərɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /kənˈfedərət/

## Meanings
1. an ally or accomplice; united in a league

## Examples
- His confederate kept watch while he forced the lock.

## Synonyms
- ally
- accomplice
- associate
- partner
- collaborator
- conspirator
- allied

## Antonyms
- adversary
- opponent
- enemy

## Derived Forms
- confederation
- confederacy

## Related Forms
- confederation
- confederacy
- federal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: confoederare
- Root: foedus

## Etymology
From Late Latin confoederatus, past participle of confoederare ('to unite in a league'), from com- ('together') + foederare ('to establish by treaty'), from foedus ('league, treaty').

## AI Etymology
Confederate comes from Late Latin confoederatus, past participle of confoederare ('to unite in a league'), from com- ('together') + foederare ('to establish by treaty'), from foedus ('league, treaty'). The historical trail runs through confoederare in Latin and foedus in Latin. Morphologically, confederate is transparent: it draws on Late Latin confoederatus, past participle of confoederare ('to unite in a league'), from com- ('together') + foederare ('to establish by treaty'), from foedus ('league, treaty'). Used as a noun and adjective, confederate now means "an ally or accomplice; united in a league", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as confederation and confederacy and related forms such as confederation, confederacy, and federal. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

markdown