Confederate Meaning
/kənˈfɛdəɹət/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf, relating to, or united in a confederacy
adjBanded together; allied.
Sentence Examples
Too many Confederate soldiers had fallen in battle.
General Lee and the Confederate Army lost the great battle.
What is your opinion on the confederate flag?
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The general trusted only his loyal ____ to carry out the risky mission.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was a ____ soldier during the American Civil War.
Word Origin & History
First attested in 1387, in Middle english; inherited from Middle English confederat(e) (“confederated, allied, associated in a plot; united or bound, as in friendship or troth”), borrowed from Late Latin cōnfoederātus perfect passive participle of cōnfoederō, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English. By surface analysis, con- + federate.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"All the swords / In Italy, and her confederate arms, / Could not have made this peace."
— c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
"Hour after hour, remote from the world's throng,
Work, contest, fame, all life's confederate pleas"
— (Can we date this quote?), Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Youth's Antiphony, lines 11-12:
"Remember as thou read'ſt, thy promiſe paſt :
I do repent me, reade not my name there,
My heart is not confederate with my hand."
— 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 43, column 1:
"And it was told the house of Dauid, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim: and his heart was moued, and the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are mooued with the wind."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 7:2:
"By'th'vvay, vve met my vvife, her ſiſter, and a rabble more
Of vilde confederates : […]"
— c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 98, column 2:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The general trusted only his loyal ____ to carry out the risky mission.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He was a ____ soldier during the American Civil War.