Federally

Federally is an adverb used to describe actions, powers, or statuses that pertain to a federation’s central government rather than to its subnational units. It denotes that something is authorized, funded, or implemented by the national government. The term is commonly used in federations such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, and in international contexts when comparing federal to provincial or regional jurisdictions. Adjectives related to the term include federal, federally funded, federally recognized, federally mandated, and federally enforced. Grammatically, federally modifies verbs or adjectives, for example: “The project is federally funded,” or “The law is federally enforced.” By contrast, references to subnational authorities use state, provincial, or local terminology.

Etymology: federally is formed from the adjective federal with the adverbial -ly suffix. The word federal derives from Latin foederalis through French fédéral, with the sense of covenant or league that underpins a federal system.

Usage notes: In formal policy writing, federally is used to attribute actions to the national government and to distinguish from state or local actions. It is lowercase in ordinary text, and capitalized only in contexts where “Federal” functions as part of a proper noun (for example, the Federal Government) in some style guides.

See also: federal, federalism, federal government, federal law, federal funding.