agency
Americannoun
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agencies
plural
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an organization, company, or bureau that provides a particular service.
We are a nonprofit agency for people experiencing food insecurity.
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a company having a franchise to represent another.
Perhaps we should be looking for a new advertising agency.
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a governmental bureau or administrative division, or an office that represents it.
My internship at the FDA led to job opportunities with other federal agencies.
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the place of business of an agent.
If you stop by the agency tomorrow, we can go over the details of the land sale.
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the duty or function of an agent.
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the relationship between a principal and an agent.
Investment firms must incentivize proper agency so that fund managers prioritize the investor’s interests over their own.
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the state of being in action or of exerting power; operation.
the agency of divine Providence.
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the capacity to act or exert power.
We may have our free agency, but we are responsible for our choices.
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a means of exerting power or influence; instrumentality.
nominated by the agency of friends.
- Synonyms:
- intercession
noun
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a business or other organization providing a specific service
an employment agency
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the place where an agent conducts business
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the business, duties, or functions of an agent
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action, power, or operation
the agency of fate
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intercession or mediation
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one of the administrative organizations of a government
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of agency
First recorded in 1650–60; from Medieval Latin agentia “ability,” from Latin ag(ere) “to do, drive” + -entia -ency
Explanation
An agency usually provides a service, like an aid organization or a government bureau. If you're looking for a job, an employment agency might be able to help. The Latin word agere means "to do or manage," and it's a fitting ancestor for agency, a word that means an institution that manages or specializes in something. As a secret agent, you might work for the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency. I hope you look good in black. The noun agency also refers to the power or ability to do something, as in the William McKinley quote, "War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”
Vocabulary lists containing agency
"The Harlem Renaissance"
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President Obama's Speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
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Word Generation Social Studies - Complex Questions Related to American Democracy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In 2024, the credit agency downgraded the bond rating from BBB- to BB+.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The 21-nation currency area’s trade surplus in goods was 1.8 billion euros in June, or $2.08 billion, from a deficit of 6.1 billion euros in May, statistics agency Eurostat said Friday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The credit agency said the current rating is unlikely to improve without completion or major progress.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
With a median age of 49.1, Italy is the EU's oldest country, according to the bloc's data agency.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
“We were actually summoned to the rating agency and told, ‘You guys just don’t get it,’” says Gertner.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Yet by 2007 he was enough of a sensation that major news agencies in the U.S.,
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Compliant Technologies states on its website that they do not cause injury and are used by many agencies.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Multiple UN agencies operate across Afghanistan in a host of areas including health and humanitarian response.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The authors say governments and public health agencies should prepare for marine heatwaves in ways similar to how they prepare for heatwaves on land.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Suing the rating agencies for the inaccuracy of their ratings, the Maine lawyers told them, would be like suing Motor Trend magazine for plugging a car that wound up crashing.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
