residency
Americannoun
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a variant of residence
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a regular series of concerts by a band or singer at one venue
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the period, following internship, during which a physician undergoes further clinical training, usually in one medical speciality
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(in India, formerly) the official house of the governor general at the court of a native prince
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.
Vocabulary lists containing residency
Americanized
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The Prince and the Dressmaker
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A Light in the Darkness
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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.
Roughly 30 to 35 countries offer some form of birthright citizenship, particularly across the Americas, with varying degrees of restriction based on parental residency or legal status.
From Salon • May 24, 2026
The one-year space residency, Zhang said, will collect data on astronauts on longer-duration spaceflights and test health support capabilities.
From Barron's • May 23, 2026
The latest ruling comes as Shakira is set to wrap up her Women Don't Cry Anymore world tour with a residency in Madrid from September.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
This shift has sparked some controversy: Doctors’ groups say there is danger in deploying people who don’t undergo the rigor of medical school and residency to do unsupervised doctor-level work.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
He had been playing the game for eight years, as long as it took to go to medical school, serve an internship, and complete a residency, but what loomed down the road because of it?
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
