| Noun | 1. | Federal - a member of the Union Army during the American Civil WarYank, Yankee, Northerner - an American who lives in the North (especially during the American Civil War) | |
| 2. | Federal - any federal law-enforcement officer | |
| Adj. | 1. | federal - 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"national - concerned with or applicable to or belonging to an entire nation or country; "the national government"; "national elections"; "of national concern"; "the national highway system"; "national forests" | |
| 2. | federal - 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. | Federal - 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"northern - in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line; "Northern liberals"; "northern industry"; "northern cities" | |
| 4. | federal - 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"unitary - characterized by or constituting a form of government in which power is held by one central authority; "a unitary as opposed to a federal form of government" | |