proper noun / noun

confederacy

kun-FED-ur-uh-see/kənˈfedərəsi/

An alliance whose members pursue a shared purpose.

The independent groups form a confederacy around their shared planning table.

Several independent community groups bring different plain banners together around a shared planning table, alliance.

Etymology

conLatintogether

+federLatinleague, alliance

+acyEnglishstate or associated body

The pieces point to being joined together in a league. Confederacy named both an agreement for mutual support and the body of people or states united by that agreement.

In context

CAB Grand Rising Show27:02

from the seneca people in the west all the way to the mohawk in the east the five nations will become a very powerful confederacy

American Indian Slave Trade in the Colonial South

More examples

Several small confederacies joined forces against a common enemy.
The Confederacy fought the Union during the American Civil War.
The thieves formed a confederacy to sell stolen goods.

Forms

confederacy · confederacies

confederate noun — A member of an allied group.

Similar words

alliance: Can name the cooperative relationship rather than the united group.
coalition: Often suggests a temporary partnership formed for one specific goal.
federation: Usually has a stronger central government than a confederacy.