federal

Definition

Pertaining to a league or treaty; derived from an agreement or covenant between parties, especially between nations.

Etymology

From French fédéral, from Latin stem foeder- of foedus (“covenant, league, treaty, alliance”).

Example Sentences

• "Yet the Romans, taking them [the Carthaginians] at an Advantage, vvhen they vvere in Streights; compell'd them, contrary to all Fœderal Right and Juſtice, by Nevv Articles, both to part with Sardinia, their Lavvful Territory, and alſo to pay them for the future, a Double Tribute."
• "That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the federal government as resulting from the compact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact, as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; [...]"
• "From April 1995 to May 1996, the Subcommittee on Crime of the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight jointly conducted an investigation into the actions of the Federal agencies involved in law enforcement activities near Waco, TX in late 1992 and early 1993 toward a group known as the Branch Davidians."