Federal
Federal
- from Latin foedus for "league or covenant"
- league = a collection of people, groups or governments for some common purpose
- covenant = an founding agreement
- thereby "federal" means "a league of states"
- and the "federal government" is the central body (government) that governs those states as a whole
- but only insofar as they share or yield powers to that central ("federal") government
- states do not share or yield all their powers with the federal government
- = "shared sovereignties"
- and the "federal government" is the central body (government) that governs those states as a whole