Etymograph

English

nonfederal

Nonfederal comes from French fédéral, from Latin foedus ‘treaty, compact, alliance, truce, league’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to trust’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-1‘to trust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰós1‘faithful, trustworthy’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*feiðos1‘faithful, reliable’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfoedus1‘treaty, compact, alliance, truce, league’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfédéral1
  6. English1500–presentfederal1
  7. Englishtodaynonfederal1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English nonfederal

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-Wiktionary, English nonfederal‘to trust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰósWiktionary, English nonfederal‘faithful, trustworthy’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*feiðosWiktionary, English nonfederal‘faithful, reliable’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfoedusWiktionary, English nonfederal‘treaty, compact, alliance, truce, league’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfédéralWiktionary, English nonfederal
  6. English1500–presentfederalWiktionary, English nonfederal
  7. EnglishtodaynonfederalWiktionary, English nonfederal

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to trust’

confidence, confident, abide, affidavit, fidelity, defiance, fiduciary, bode, foi, confidant, bide, infidel, confide, fealty, diffident, perfidy, 23 more

through Proto-Italic *feiðos ‘faithful, reliable’

defy, 12 more

through Latin foedus ‘treaty, compact, alliance, truce, league’

federation, confederate, 13 more

through French fédéral

federalism, 8 more

through English federal

federally, federalist, 7 more

Today it means

adj Not federal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nonfederal”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- / nonfederal