agency

[ ey-juhn-see ]

/ ˈeɪ dʒən si /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR agency ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural a·gen·cies.

an organization, company, or bureau that provides some service for another: a welfare agency.

a company having a franchise to represent another.

a governmental bureau, or an office that represents it.

the place of business of an agent.

Indian agency.

an administrative division of a government.

the duty or function of an agent.

the relationship between a principal and his or her agent.

the state of being in action or of exerting power; operation: the agency of Providence.

a means of exerting power or influence; instrumentality: nominated by the agency of friends.

Nearby words

Origin of agency

1650–60; < Medieval Latin agentia, equivalent to Latin ag- (root of agere to do, act, manage) + -entia -ency

SYNONYMS FOR agency

10. intercession, good offices.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR agency ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formssub·a·gen·cy, noun, plural sub·a·gen·cies.un·der·a·gen·cy, noun, plural un·der·a·gen·cies.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for agency

Something like fluoride, which is too small for normal filters, yanks away that feeling of agency.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Wisner continues to feel angry toward the agency because she believes she was misled.
Judge: Rehoming Kids Is Trafficking|Tina Traster|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Larson, as usual, instills gravitas and agency in an otherwise underwritten character.
Brie Larson’s Hollywood Transformation|Marlow Stern|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It seems like you took a circuitous route, rather than coming up through some agency.
Anastasia Ashley, Surfer-Cum-Model, Rides The Viral Internet Wave|James Joiner|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Well before the launch of the agency, the founders used their cameras to capture telling snippets of city life.
A History of Paris in 150 Photographs|Sarah Moroz|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
While it was for this tribe that the agency at Fort Snelling was established, yet the Chippewas often frequented its headquarters.
Old Fort Snelling|Marcus L. Hansen
The only possibility of peril which reason suggested was through the agency of that stranger.
With Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga|W. Bert Foster
By this agency every post in the northern department was reached.
The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company|George Bryce
Gazing at them, I felt that by my agency something worth living for had been done.
The Old Manse (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")|Nathaniel Hawthorne
Warriors continued to slip away from the agency and join the hostiles.
The Greater Republic|Charles Morris

British Dictionary definitions for agency

agency

/ (ˈeɪdʒənsɪ) /

noun plural -cies

a business or other organization providing a specific servicean employment agency

the place where an agent conducts business

the business, duties, or functions of an agent

action, power, or operationthe agency of fate

intercession or mediation

one of the administrative organizations of a government

Word Origin for agency

C17: from Medieval Latin agentia, from Latin agere to do

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for agency

agency

1650s, "active operation," from Medieval Latin agentia, noun of state from Latin agentem (nominative agens) "effective, powerful," present participle of agere (see act (n.)). Meaning "establishment where business is done for another" first recorded 1861.

agency

noun, plural a·gen·cies.

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Nearby words

Origin of agency

Examples from the Web for agency

agency

noun plural -cies

Word Origin for agency

agency