agency
Americannoun
-
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:
The agency encourages property owners to remove certain trees around homes for defensible-space purposes and works to thin forests throughout the Tahoe Basin to reduce wildfire risk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
They were told they had to buy their portfolio photographs from the studio in order to join an agency and become an agency model.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Turkey’s financial regulatory agency froze trading by seven asset managers and announced plans to liquidate 131 individual investment funds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
To gain more agency, for example, you can tend the garden for an hour or write your autobiography.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
But something tells me she wouldn’t be thrilled about her daughter going to the same secret agency that had something to do with her son going missing.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
A spokesperson for Colmore and Southside Business Improvement Districts said wardens had, on occasion, witnessed groups of riders while carrying out patrols and had shared information with relevant agencies where appropriate.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
“For most of the rules that matter for traditional finance, the agencies can probably get them done.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“While our crews and partner agencies worked together to bring all three people to safety, we recognize that this rescue ended in a heartbreaking loss. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
That revision was undertaken with analytical rigor: The process took two years, involved 35 agencies, incorporated extensive new and existing research, and elicited over 20,000 comments.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
The reason they’d done this is that the rating agencies, presented with the pile of bonds backed by dubious loans, would pronounce 80 percent of the bonds in it triple-A.
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.
