federal

• fœderal (archaic)
• fœderall (obsolete)

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛdəɹəl/, /ˈfɛdɹəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

federal (not comparable)

1. 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.

2. Pertaining to the national government level in a federal nation, as opposed to state, provincial, county, city, or town.
   • 1798, James Madison, Virginia Resolutions of 1798‎^[1]:

     That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government as resulting from the compact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact, as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; [...]

   • 1996, United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians‎^[2]:

     From April 1995 to May 1996, the Subcommittee on Crime of the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight jointly conducted an investigation into the actions of the Federal agencies involved in law enforcement activities near Waco, TX in late 1992 and early 1993 toward a group known as the Branch Davidians.

   • 2021, Joe Biden, Executive Order 13991 (Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing)‎^[3], Section 1 (Policy):

     Accordingly, to protect the Federal workforce and individuals interacting with the Federal workforce, and to ensure the continuity of Government services and activities, on-duty or on-site Federal employees, on-site Federal contractors, and other individuals in Federal buildings and on Federal lands should all wear masks, maintain physical distance, and adhere to other public health measures, as provided in CDC guidelines.

3. (theology) Relating to covenantalism.

   federal theology

federal (plural federals)

1. A federal agent or (chiefly law-enforcement) official.

   Coordinate term: (informal) federale

   1. (US) A law-enforcement official of the FBI.
2. (US, historical) A Union soldier in the American Civil War.
3. A supporter of federation.

• fed (noun)

• Elfreda

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [fə.ðəˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fe.ðeˈɾal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

federal m or f (masculine and feminine plural federals)

1. federal

• federalisme
• federalista
• federalment

federal m (plural federals)

1. blackbird (any of various birds in the New World family Icteridae)

• federal capgroc
• federal cap-roig
• federal safrà

• “federal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “federal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “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.

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

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /fɛdəˈral/ [fɛ.dəˈral]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fe‧de‧ral

federal (comparative lebih federal, superlative paling federal)

1. federal

• “federal”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: fe‧de‧ral

federal m or f (plural federais)

1. federal

• “federal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “federal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French fédéral.

• IPA^(key): /fe.deˈral/

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

1. federal

• federație

• IPA^(key): /fedeˈɾal/ [fe.ð̞eˈɾal]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fe‧de‧ral

federal m or f (masculine and feminine plural federales)

1. federal

federal m (plural federales)

1. a federal law enforcement officer
   1. (Mexico) federal law enforcement officer belonging to the Mexican government
   2. (US) federal law enforcement officer belonging to the United States
2. the scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus

• English: federale, Federale

• “federal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

federal (not comparable)

1. federal

• delstatlig
• global
• kommunal
• lokal
• nationell
• regional
• statlig