Definitions for agency
ˈeɪ dʒən siagen·cy

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. agency, federal agency, government agency, bureau, office, authority(noun)

   an administrative unit of government

   "the Central Intelligence Agency"; "the Census Bureau"; "Office of Management and Budget"; "Tennessee Valley Authority"

2. agency(noun)

   a business that serves other businesses

3. agency(noun)

   the state of being in action or exerting power

   "the agency of providence"; "she has free agency"

4. representation, delegacy, agency(noun)

   the state of serving as an official and authorized delegate or agent

5. means, agency, way(noun)

   how a result is obtained or an end is achieved

   "a means of control"; "an example is the best agency of instruction"; "the true way to success"

GCIDE(3.40 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. agency(n.)

   An organization or business that provides some service, primarily for other organizations; as, an advertising agency.

   Etymology: [agentia, fr. L. agens, agentis: cf. F. agence. See Agent.]

2. agency(n.)

   An administrative division of a government; as, a state welfare agency; a motor vehicle agency; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

   Etymology: [agentia, fr. L. agens, agentis: cf. F. agence. See Agent.]

Wiktionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. agency(Noun)

   The faculty of acting or of exerting power; the state of being in action; action; instrumentality.

   The superintendence and agency of Providence in the natural world. --Woodward.

   Etymology: From agentia, from agens (present participle of agere), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

2. agency(Noun)

   agent

   Etymology: From agentia, from agens (present participle of agere), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

3. agency(Noun)

   The office of an agent, or factor.

   Etymology: From agentia, from agens (present participle of agere), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

4. agency(Noun)

   The relation between a principal and his agent.

   Etymology: From agentia, from agens (present participle of agere), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

5. agency(Noun)

   Business of one entrusted with the concerns of another.

   Etymology: From agentia, from agens (present participle of agere), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

6. agency(Noun)

   The place of business of an agent.

   Etymology: From agentia, from agens (present participle of agere), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

7. agency(Noun)

   A bond issued by a US government-backed entity, such as Fannie Mae.

   Etymology: From agentia, from agens (present participle of agere), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Agency(noun)

   the faculty of acting or of exerting power; the state of being in action; action; instrumentality

   Etymology: [agentia, fr. L. agens, agentis: cf. F. agence. See Agent.]

2. Agency(noun)

   the office of an agent, or factor; the relation between a principal and his agent; business of one intrusted with the concerns of another

   Etymology: [agentia, fr. L. agens, agentis: cf. F. agence. See Agent.]

3. Agency(noun)

   the place of business of am agent

   Etymology: [agentia, fr. L. agens, agentis: cf. F. agence. See Agent.]

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. agency

   In intelligence usage, an organization or individual engaged in collecting and/or processing information. Also called collection agency. See also agent; intelligence process; source.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. agency

   Payment pro operâ et labore, fixed by the prize act at five per cent. as a fair average, but it gives nothing where the property is restored; in such cases it is usual for the agent to charge a gross sum.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. agency

   A certain proportion of money which is ordered to be subtracted from the pay and allowances of the British army, for transacting the business of the several regiments comprising it.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. agency

   A form of unity assembly, unity council, unity legislature, unity senate, house of representatives, unity government, local unity government, regional unity government, national unity government, european unity government and international unity government governmental organization created for a specific purpose with accurate and specific budgets, goals, legislation, objectives, plans, processes, procedures, rules, strategy, structures, systems, vision, treaties, eligibility criteria, employees, expenditure, funding, guidelines, income, IT systems, liquidity, management, policy, resources and technology. This organization employs a moderate amount of employees.

   The unity government agency works efficiently and effectively as an intelligent organization.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 10, 2020  

2. agency

   An organization or business that provides goods or services.

   The recruitment agency provided an excellent local and regional service.

   Submitted by MaryC on December 27, 2019  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'agency' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1748

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'agency' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2444

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'agency' in Nouns Frequency: #473

How to pronounce agency?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say agency in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of agency in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of agency in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of agency in a Sentence

1. The FCC:

   While other warning officers understand that this is a drill, the warning officer at the alert origination terminal claimed to believe, in a written statement provided to HI-EMA [ Emergency Management Agency ] that this was a real emergency, not a drill.

2. Andrew Keegan:

   They may be a complaint-driven agency, but we’re an intention-driven organization and our intentions are pure, part of our spiritual practice is that we serve kombucha.

3. Ana Gomes:

   A former agency employee said to me – ‘How embarrassing is it going to be for the CIA when the terrorist starts to support you in this whole story?’.

4. Tony Abbott:

   We particularly need to know how someone with such a long record of violence and such a long record of mental instability was out on bail after his involvement in a particularly horrific crime, and we do need to know how he seemed to have fallen off our security agency's watch list back in about 2009.

5. Raymond Chandler:

   Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency.

Images & Illustrations of agency

Popularity rank by frequency of use