Confederacies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An association or alliance formed for mutual benefit, particularly among groups with shared interests or goals
2. A group of entities that come together for a common purpose, often involving political or military cooperation
3. A system of governance or organization where member states maintain some degree of independence while collaborating on certain issues

Etymology: "Confederacies" is simply the plural of "confederacy," so its history is the history of that base noun. The noun came into Middle English as "confederacie," borrowed through Anglo-Norman from the Latin "confoederatio," a noun built from "confoederare," meaning to unite by a league or treaty. The Latin root combines "con-," meaning together, with "foedus," a treaty or compact, a word that also gives English "federal." Latin "confoederatio" sits behind a second English word, "confederation," which entered the language along a separate route and is a doublet of "confederacy": two forms of one Latin source that reached English at different times and took on different shades. Where "confederation" tends toward formal, institutional unions, "confederacy" has often carried a sense of an alliance formed for a shared aim, sometimes a secret or partisan one, which is why the plural can describe several such alliances at once.

Synonyms: alliances, coalitions, federations, conglomerates, associations