How to spell federal

Federal is spelled F-E-D-E-R-A-L. Say all three parts, fed-er-al: an E before the R, one L at the end.

hear itfed·er·al/'fɛdərəl/adjectiveSilent and tricky

What it means: Relating to the central government of a whole country.

In a sentence: The federal government makes important rules for the whole country.

Same family: federation, federalist, federalism, federally, federate. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Federal” comes from the Latin word “foedus,” meaning “treaty” or “league,” because a federal system joins states or regions together under one central government. In the U.S., this adjective later became a noun in everyday speech to mean a federal law-enforcement officer.

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