federate

Federate is a verb that means to unite or be united into a federation. In political contexts, to federate refers to bringing together separate states, provinces, or other entities under a common, central authority while typically preserving some degree of internal autonomy. The resulting arrangement is called a federation, and the act of joining is described as federating. Federations contrast with confederations in that federations usually involve a stronger central government with certain powers delegated by member units.

Etymology traces federate to Latin foedus, meaning a treaty or covenant, and to medieval and early modern forms that passed into English through French and other intermediaries. In international relations and constitutional law, federating processes may occur through negotiation, constitutional amendments, or the voluntary accession of regions or states to a preexisting federation.

In technology and information governance, federating refers to enabling interoperability and trust across autonomous systems or domains. Federated identity management, for example, allows users to access resources across different organizations using a single set of credentials, relying on mutual trust and standard protocols. Related concepts include federated search, which aggregates results from multiple data sources, and other cross-domain collaboration mechanisms that preserve local control while enabling shared access.

In data science and machine learning, federated approaches describe coordinating work across distributed actors (such as devices or institutions) without requiring centralized data sharing, though the term “federated” may be used in related methods and architectures.

Overall, federating denotes the process of forming or enabling a federation, emphasizing cooperation and shared governance among autonomous participants.