agency

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “agency”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Etymology

From Medieval Latin agentia, from Latin agens (present participle of agere (“to act”)), agentis (cognate with French agence, see also agent).

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.dʒən.si/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

agency (countable and uncountable, plural agencies)

1. The capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power; action or activity; operation.

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

2. A person or thing through which power is exerted or an end is achieved: instrumentality, means.
3. The office or function of an agent; also, the relationship between a principal and that person's agent.
4. An establishment engaged in doing business for another; also, the place of business or the district of such an agency.
5. A department or other administrative unit of a government; also, the office or headquarters of, or the district administered by such unit of government.

   Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

   Central Intelligence Agency

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• action
• operation
• efficiency
• instrumentality
• management

Hyponyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

Related terms

• act
• action
• agent

Translations

faculty of acting or of exerting power

• Bulgarian: действие (bg) (dejstvie), въздействие (bg) (vǎzdejstvie)
• Catalan: agència f
• Dutch: macht (nl), kracht (nl)
• Finnish: toiminta (fi)
• French: capacité d’agir f, agency (fr), agentivité (fr)
• Galician: axencia (gl) f
• German: Wille (de) m, Agency (de) (philosophy), Handlungsfähigkeit f (philosophy)
• Occitan: agéncia f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: де́йствие (ru) n (déjstvije), возде́йствие (ru) n (vozdéjstvije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: посредство n

  Roman: posredstvo (sh) n

• Spanish: albedrío (es) m, agency (es) (philosophy), agencia (es) f (philosophy)
• Tagalog: kabisaan

agent — see agent

office of an agent, or factor

• Arabic: وِكَالَة f (wikāla)
• Bulgarian: посредничество (bg) (posredničestvo), агентство (bg) (agentstvo)
• Catalan: agència f
• Dutch: bureau (nl)
• Esperanto: agentejo
• Finnish: edustus (fi), agentuuri (fi)
• French: agence (fr) f
• German: Agentur (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: gníomhaireacht f
• Occitan: agéncia f
• Polish: agencja (pl) f
• Russian: аге́нтство (ru) n (agéntstvo)
• Spanish: agencia (es) f
• Tagalog: kagawaan
• Turkish: acentelik (tr)

relation between a principal and his agent

• Finnish: edustus (fi), agentuuri (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

business of one entrusted with the concerns of another

• Finnish: edustus (fi), agentuuri (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

place of business of an agent

• Arabic: وَكَالَة f (wakāla)
• Bulgarian: агенция (bg) (agencija)
• Catalan: agència f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機構／机构 (zh) (jīgòu), 机构 (zh) (jīgòu)

• Czech: kancelář (cs) f, agentura (cs) f
• Esperanto: agentejo
• Finnish: toimisto (fi), agentuuri (fi)
• French: agence (fr) f, action (fr) f, organisme (fr) m
• German: Agentur (de) f
• Hebrew: סוכנות f (sokhnut)
• Hungarian: ügynökség (hu)
• Irish: gníomhaireacht f
• Italian: agenzia (it) f
• Japanese: 代理店 (ja) (だいりてん, dairiten)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 대리점 (ko) (daerijeom)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: byrå

• Occitan: agéncia f
• Persian: آژانس (fa) (âžâns)
• Polish: agencja (pl) f
• Portuguese: agência (pt) f
• Romanian: agenție (ro) f, agentură (ro) f
• Russian: аге́нтство (ru) n (agéntstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: агенција f

  Roman: agencija (sh) f

• Spanish: oficina (es) f, agencia (es) f
• Tagalog: ahensya, kagawaan
• Vietnamese: cơ quan (vi)

government office

• Arabic: دَائِرَة (ar) f (dāʔira)
• Finnish: virasto (fi), toimisto (fi)
• Galician: axencia (gl) f
• Georgian: სააგენტო (saagenṭo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Behörde (de) f
• Occitan: agéncia f
• Russian: аге́нтство (ru) n (agéntstvo), о́рган (ru) m (órgan)
• Tagalog: kagawaan

bond issued by a US government-backed entity

• Finnish: velkakirja (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• “agency”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Cagney, gynæc-