plural confederacies
Definition of confederacy
1
: a group of people, countries, organizations, etc. joined together for a common purpose or by a common interest : league, alliance
The artists came together as a confederacy of craftsmen a few years ago with the notion that, at least in the realm of marketing and getting the public's attention, there is power in numbers.— Wallace Baine … as audiences splinter into increasingly antagonistic confederacies, finding images and themes which speak to a shared human condition can be a daunting task.— Brian Gable
also
: a group of people working together for unlawful purposes : conspiracy
… a corrupt confederacy of pimps, profiteers and putzes with an instinct for ignorance and ill will. — Mark Kriegel
2a
: an entity (see entity sense 3) formed by a confederacy of nations, states, etc.
"Bush Runner" is not an easy book to read … , but it offers many rewards, especially to a reader keen to know more about early Canadian history. … it focuses on the early days of European contact with the Indigenous peoples and tribal confederacies along the St. Lawrence River, as well as in the Great Lakes and Hudson's Bay regions.— Michael Peterman
b
the Confederacy, in U.S. history
: the 11 southern states of the United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and later also the states of Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) during their secession from the United States between 1860 and 1865
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for confederacy
The first known use of confederacy was in the 14th century
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