# federal
## English
### Alternative forms

* fœderal (obsolete)
* fœderall (obsolete)

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈfɛdəɹəl/, /ˈfɛdɹəl/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Adjective

federal (not comparable)
* 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.
* Pertaining to the national government level in a federal nation, as opposed to state, provincial, county, city, or town.
* (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
* federalese
* federal government
* federalisation
* federalise
* 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
* federalwide
* federal yellow
* FedEx
* Fedzilla
* make a federal case out of something
* nonfederal
* postfederal
* prefederal
* quasifederal
* unfederal

#### Translations
### Noun

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

#### Synonyms

* fed (noun)

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* Elfreda

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

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

### Adjective

federal m or f (masculine and feminine plural federals)
* federal

#### Derived terms

* federalisme
* federalista
* federalment

### Noun

federal m (plural federals)
* 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, 2025
* “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: [fɛdəˈral]
* Hyphenation: fè‧dê‧ral
* Rhymes: -al

### Adjective

federal
* 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: /fe.deˈɾaw/ [fe.deˈɾaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /fɨ.dɨˈɾal/ [fɨ.ðɨˈɾaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /fɨ.dɨˈɾal/ [fɨ.ðɨˈɾaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /fɨ.dɨˈɾa.li/ [fɨ.ðɨˈɾa.li]
* Rhymes: -al, -aw
* Hyphenation: fe‧de‧ral

### Adjective

federal m or f (plural federais)
* federal

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French fédéral.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fe.deˈral/

### Adjective

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

#### Related terms

* federație

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fedeˈɾal/ [fe.ð̞eˈɾal]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: fe‧de‧ral

### Adjective

federal m or f (masculine and feminine plural federales)
* federal

#### Derived terms

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

### Noun

federal m (plural federales)
* a federal law enforcement officer
** (Mexico) federal law enforcement officer belonging to the Mexican government
** (US) federal law enforcement officer belonging to the United States
* 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)
* federal

#### Declension

$^1$ 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