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Origin and history of confederate

confederate(v.)

1530s, "to unite in a league or alliance," from Late Latin confoederatus, past participle of confoederare "to unite by a league," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + foederare, from foedus (genitive foederis) "a league," from suffixed form of PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade."

The older verb was confeder (late 14c.), from Old French confederer, Medieval Latin confederare. Related: Confederated; confederating.

confederate

confederate(adj.)

late 14c., "allied, united in a league," from Late Latin confoederatus "leagued together," past participle of confoederare "to unite by a league" (see confederate (v.)). Meaning "of or belonging to the Confederate States of America" is from 1861. Confederal "of or pertaining to a confederation" (1782) was used of the United States under the Articles of Confederation.

confederate

confederate(n.)

late 15c., "one who is united with another or others in a compact or league;" see confederate (adj.). Late Latin confoederatus also was used as a noun in its day. Meaning "a citizen of the Confederate States of America" is from 1861. Confederator (mid-15c.) was used in the sense of "an ally, an accomplice."

confederate

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to confederate

*bheidh-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to trust, confide, persuade."

It might form all or part of: abide; abode; affiance; affidavit; auto-da-fe; bide; bona fide; confederate; confidant; confide; confidence; confident; defiance; defy; diffidence; diffident; faith; fealty; federal; federate; federation; fiancee; fideism; fidelity; fiducial; fiduciary; infidel; infidelity; nullifidian; perfidy; solifidian.

It might also be the source of: Greek pistis "faith, confidence, honesty;" Latin fides "trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence, belief;" Albanian be "oath," bindem "to be convinced, believe;" Old Church Slavonic beda "distress, necessity," bediti "to force, persuade;" Old English biddan "to ask, beg, pray," German bitten "to ask."

con-

word-forming element meaning "together, with," sometimes merely intensive; it is the form of com- used in Latin before consonants except -b-, -p-, -l-, -m-, or -r-. In native English formations (such as costar), co- tends to be used where Latin would use con-.

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    accomplice
    "associate in crime," 1580s, an unetymological extension of earlier complice "an associate or confederate" (early 15c.), from Old French complice "a confederate, partner" (not in a criminal sense), from Late Latin complicem (nominative complex) "partner, confederate," from Latin
    henchman
    mid-14c., hengestman, later henshman (mid-15c.) "high-ranking servant (usually of gentle birth), attendant upon a king, nobleman, etc.," originally "groom," probably from man (n.) + Old English hengest "horse, stallion, gelding," from Proto-Germanic *hangistas (source also of Old
    Memorial Day
    [Grand Army Blue Book, Philadelphia, 1884] The South, however, had its own Confederate Memorial Day, and there was some...It is distinctively Confederate in its origin and use, and I would suggest to all Confederate societies to adhere to it....[Confederate Veteran, November 1893]...
    complicity
    Old French complice "accomplice, comrade, companion" (14c.), from Late Latin complicem, accusative of complex "partner, confederate...
    Arizona
    1861, originally as the name of a breakaway Confederate region of southern New Mexico; later applied to a U.S. territory...
    trow
    Old English treowan "to trust in, believe, hope, be confident; persuade, suggest; make true; be faithful (to), confederate...
    mossback
    especially of poor rural whites; earlier (1872) in reference to those from the Carolinas who had hid out to avoid service in the Confederate...
    champion
    early 13c., "doughty fighting man, valorous combatant," also (c. 1300) "one who fights on behalf of another or others, one who undertakes to defend a cause," from Old French champion "combatant, champion in single combat" (12c.), from Late Latin campionem (nominative campio) "gla
    accessory
    also accessary, early 15c., "that which is subordinate to something else," also as a legal term, "one aiding in a felony without committing the offense" (as by advising, inciting, concealing), from Late Latin accessorius, from Latin accessor, agent noun of accedere "to approach"
    supporter
    early 15c., "adherent, partisan, one who upholds or helps to carry on the interests of another," agent noun from support (v.). Fem. form supportress is by 1620s. The meaning "that which sustains the weight of something else" physically (in ship-building, etc.) is from 1590s. As "

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