chancery

American  

[chan-suh-ree] / ˈtʃæn sə ri /

noun

• chanceries
  plural

1. the office or department of a chancellor; chancellery.

2. an office of public records, especially those of the Lord Chancellor in England.

3. (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice.

4. Law.

   1. Also called court of chancery.  a court having jurisdiction in equity; court of equity.

   2. equity.

5. the administrative office of a diocese.

6. Roman Catholic Church. a department of the Curia Romana now having the responsibility for issuing bulls to establish new dioceses, benefices, etc.

---

idioms

1. in chancery,

   1. Law. in litigation in a court of chancery.

   2. Wrestling, Boxing. (of a contestant's head) held under an opponent's arm.

   3. in a helpless or embarrassing position.

chancery British  

/ ˈtʃɑːnsərɪ /

noun

1. Also called: Chancery Division.  (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice

2. Also called: court of chancery.  (in the US) a court of equity

3. the political section or offices of an embassy or legation

4. another name for chancellery

5. a court of public records; archives

6. Christianity a diocesan office under the supervision of a bishop's chancellor, having custody of archives, issuing official enactments, etc

7. 1. law (of a suit) pending in a court of equity

   2. wrestling boxing (of a competitor's head) locked under an opponent's arm

   3. in an awkward or helpless situation

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chanceries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chancery

1325–75; Middle English chancerie, variant of chancelrie, syncopated variant of chancellerie chancellery

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chancery chanceries

Brahmbhatt first approached HPS in 2020 seeking to refinance that loan, according to an HPS suit filed in Delaware chancery court last year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026

The question isn’t whether chancery courts in 1789 issued nationwide injunctions.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2025

According to court records, the lawsuit was filed in Nashville's chancery court on 16 November.

From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2023

The appeals court judges sent the case back to the chancery court, ordering the case to proceed.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 25, 2023

Still, he did not answer Azya affirmatively yet; he resisted even additional tears from Eva; but he locked himself up in the chancery and fell to thinking.

From Pan Michael An Historical Novel of Poland, the Ukraine, and Turkey. by Henryk Sienkiewicz

This new external impulse to reshape the Middle East originates not in grand chanceries but in nongovernmental movements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

In the years since, multiple other dioceses have sold or said they intended to sell their chanceries, including Brooklyn; Charleston, S.C.;

From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2014

One hope in Western chanceries is that the Libyans themselves eventually will tire of Gaddafi, "a nasty reality of our times," as one diplomat calls him.

From Time Magazine Archive

With equal fervor, they have been waging their own behind-the-scenes battle in diplomatic chanceries and ministries around the world in the name of moderation and the status quo.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was particularly in this portion of the deed that the varying practices of the several chanceries led to minute and intricate distinctions at The Date. different periods.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various