Link Centre Dictionary

agency

UK/ˈeɪ.d͡ʒən.si/ US/ˈeɪdʒʌnsi/ common

noun

1.

an administrative unit of government

  • “the Central Intelligence Agency”
  • “the Census Bureau”
  • “Office of Management and Budget”
  • “Tennessee Valley Authority”
2.

a business that serves other businesses

3.

the state of being in action or exerting power

  • “the agency of providence”
  • “she has free agency”
5.

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”
Synonyms

Origin

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

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.