Federal

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Federal \Fed"er*al\, a. [L. foedus league, treaty, compact; akin
     to fides faith: cf. F. f['e]d['e]ral. see {Faith}.]
     1. Pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an
        agreement or covenant between parties, especially between
        nations; constituted by a compact between parties, usually
        governments or their representatives.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              The Romans compelled them, contrary to all federal
              right, . . . to part with Sardinia.   --Grew.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Specifically:
        (a) Composed of states or districts which retain only a
            subordinate and limited sovereignty, as the Union of
            the United States, or the Sonderbund of Switzerland.
        (b) Consisting or pertaining to such a government; as, the
            Federal Constitution; a Federal officer.
        (c) Friendly or devoted to such a government; as, the
            Federal party. see {Federalist}.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {Federal Congress}. See under {Congress}.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Federal \Fed"er*al\, n.
     See {Federalist}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  federal
       adj 1: national; especially in reference to the government of the
              United States as distinct from that of its member
              units; "the Federal Bureau of Investigation"; "federal
              courts"; "the federal highway program"; "federal
              property"
       2: of or relating to the central government of a federation; "a
          federal district is one set aside as the seat of the
          national government"
       3: being of or having to do with the northern United States and
          those loyal to the Union during the Civil War; "Union
          soldiers"; "Federal forces"; "a Federal infantryman" [syn:
           {Union}]
       4: characterized by or constituting a form of government in
          which power is divided between one central and several
          regional authorities; "a federal system like that of the
          United States"; "federal governments often evolved out of
          confederatons" [ant: {unitary}]
       n 1: a member of the Union Army during the American Civil War
            [syn: {Federal soldier}, {Union soldier}]
       2: any federal law-enforcement officer [syn: {Fed}, {federal
          official}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  65 Moby Thesaurus words for "Federal":
     Bow Street runner, FBI, FBI agent, G-man, Secret Service,
     Sherlock Holmes, T-man, agent, amanuensis, baggage agent,
     business agent, claim agent, clerk, commercial agent,
     commission agent, consignee, customer agent, detective, dupe,
     factor, fed, federal agent, freight agent, functionary,
     general agent, hotel detective, house detective, house dick,
     implement, inquiry agent, instrument, insurance agent,
     investigator, land agent, law agent, literary agent, loan agent,
     narc, news agent, official, operative, parliamentary agent,
     passenger agent, plainclothesman, police detective, press agent,
     private detective, private investigator, puppet, purchasing agent,
     real estate agent, revenuer, sales agent, secretary, sleuth,
     special agent, station agent, steward, store detective,
     theatrical agent, ticket agent, tool, travel agent, treasury agent,
     walking delegate
  
  

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  96 Moby Thesaurus words for "federal":
     G-man, MP, absolute, aristocratic, associative, authoritarian,
     autocratic, autonomous, bailiff, beadle, beagle, blending,
     bound bailiff, bureaucratic, captain, catchpole, chief of police,
     civic, civil, combinative, combinatory, combining, commissioner,
     constable, constitutional, corporational, democratic, deputy,
     deputy sheriff, despotic, detective, dictatorial, fascist, fed,
     federalist, federalistic, federative, flic, fusing, gendarme,
     government man, governmental, gubernatorial, heteronomous,
     incorporating, incorporative, inspector, lictor, lieutenant,
     mace-bearer, marshal, matriarchal, matriarchic, merging, monarchal,
     monarchial, monarchic, monocratic, mounted policeman, narc,
     officer, official, oligarchal, oligarchic, parliamentarian,
     parliamentary, patriarchal, patriarchic, patrolman, peace officer,
     pluralistic, police captain, police commissioner, police constable,
     police inspector, police matron, police officer, police sergeant,
     policeman, policewoman, political, portreeve, reeve, republican,
     roundsman, self-governing, sergeant, sergeant at arms, sheriff,
     superintendent, theocratic, tipstaff, tipstaves, totalitarian,
     trooper, uniting
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  FEDERAL, government. This term is commonly used to express a league or 
  compact between two or more states. 
       2. In the United States the central government of the Union is federal. 
  The constitution was adopted "to form a more perfect union" among the 
  states, for the purpose of self-protection and for the promotion of their 
  mutual happiness.