federal
fed·er·al/ˈfɛdəɹəl/adjective, noun
federal is spelled F-E-D-E-R-A-L: 7 letters and 3 syllables (fed·er·al). It appears 135 times per million words in written English, the 770th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, federal means “Pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an agreement or covenant between parties, especially between nations” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in federal?
| Letters | 7: F-E-D-E-R-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: fed·er·al |
| In writing | 135 times per million words; the 770th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is federal?
Federal appears 135 times per million words in written English, the 770th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce federal?
- UK /ˈfɛdəɹəl/
- UK [ˈfɛdəɹəl] ~ [ˈfɛdəɹl̩]
- US /ˈfɛdəɹəl/
Federal has 3 syllables, split fed·er·al in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-federal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of federal
- federals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does federal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an agreement or covenant between parties, especially between nations.
- 2
Pertaining to the national government level in a federal nation, as opposed to state, provincial, county, city, or town.
- 3
Relating to covenantalism.
federal theology
noun
- 1
A federal agent or (chiefly law-enforcement) official.
- 2
USA law-enforcement official of the FBI.
- 3
USA Union soldier in the American Civil War.
- 4
A supporter of federation.
noun
- 1
A member of a Federal Party
- 2
USAlternative letter-case form of federal.
- 3
Someone on the Union side.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate federal?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of federal: FPT, Fed..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Federal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an agreement or covenant between :
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fédéral, fédérale |
| German | Bundes-, föderal |
| Portuguese | federal, federativo |
| Spanish | federal |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does federal come from?
Borrowed from French fédéral, from Latin foedus + French -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).