residency

American  

[rez-i-duhn-see] / ˈrɛz ɪ dən si /

noun

• residencies
  plural

1. residence.

2. the position or tenure of a medical resident.

3. (formerly) the official residence of a representative of the British governor general at an Indian court.

4. (formerly) an administrative division of the Dutch East Indies.

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residency British  

/ ˈrɛzɪdənsɪ /

noun

1. a variant of residence

2. a regular series of concerts by a band or singer at one venue

3. the period, following internship, during which a physician undergoes further clinical training, usually in one medical speciality

4. (in India, formerly) the official house of the governor general at the court of a native prince

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• residencies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of residency

First recorded in 1570–80; resid(ent) + -ency

Explanation

Your residency is where you live, officially. A residency is also a temporary professional visit, like when a doctor does a residency at a hospital or a poet does a residency at a school. When someone emigrates to another country, they don't just visit temporarily — they gain residency in the new country, becoming a legal resident. And if you get a driver's license, you'll get it in the state where you have residency. Another way to use this noun is to mean "a stage of medical training." After attending medical school, new doctors have a residency at a hospital, where they specialize in a particular branch of medicine.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

residency residencies

The 58-year-old singer slipped in front of a live audience while performing “Dans un Autre monde” during her Paris residency on Oct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

The 47-year-old was officially an employee of a Dubai-based diamond vendor called BZ Diamond, according to the U.A.E. residency card he used to open his Binance account, the Binance report showed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Before the hikes, it would cost non-permanent residents in Japan 6,000 yen each time they applied to change their residency status or extend their period of stay.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Those without permanent residency often have a difficult time seeking mortgages, for example.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

This was considered an awkward interruption, disrupting as it did the critical debate over the assumption and residency questions with an inflammatory proposal that several southern representatives immediately denounced as mischievous meddling.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

“Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You” alchemized those months of research, plus a decade of drafts, residencies at the Headland Center for the Arts and Hedgebrook, as well as notebooks upon notebooks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

Homeland Security data from the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, the latest available, shows that of some 350,000 new permanent residencies issued, about 190,000—54 percent—were adjustments, which is in keeping with historical trends.

From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026

It stacks the calendar with established artists for residencies that can last days, weeks or months—pairing safe, broadly appealing musical acts with spectacular visual flair in shows that take months to produce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Nonetheless, the organization’s 80 acres are home to a variety of artist residencies, which use the windswept isolation of the desert to activate dormant ideas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026

They are divided into "residencies," and the administering officers exercise control over the various plantations.

From Commercial Geography A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges by Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw) Redway

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