Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Law A court of chancery.
- n. Law The proceedings and practice of a court of chancery; equity.
- n. Law A court of public record; an office of archives.
- n. Law One of the five divisions of the High Court of Justice of Great Britain, presided over by the Lord High Chancellor.
- n. The office or department of a chancellor; a chancellery.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Originally, the office of a chancellor, notary, or secretary, where the records were kept and official documents were prepared, sealed, and despatched.
- n. In England, formerly, the highest court of justice next to Parliament, presided over by the lord chancellor, but since 1873 a division of the High Court of Justice It once consisted of two distinct tribunals—one ordinary, or legal; the other extraordinary, or a court of equity.
- n. In Scotland, an office in the general register-house at Edinburgh, in which are recorded charters, patents of dignities, gifts of office, remissions, legitimations, and all other writs appointed to pass the great or the quarter seal. Also chancellery.
- n. In the United States, a court of equity. See equity.
- n. In pugilism, the position of a boxer's head when it is under his adversary's arm, so that it may be held and pommeled severely, the victim meanwhile being unable to retaliate effectively: in the phrase in chancery. So called because of its supposed resemblance to the position of a suitor among the chancery lawyers.
- n. In an awkward predicament.
- n. See 5, above.
Wiktionary
- n. In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873 it became the chancery division of the High Court of Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity.
- n. In the United States, a court of equity; equity; proceeding in equity.
- n. The type of building that houses a diplomatic mission or embassy.
- n. The type of building that houses the offices and administration of a diocese; the offices of a diocese.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873 it became the chancery division of the High Court of Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity.
- n. In the Unites States, a court of equity; equity; proceeding in equity.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a court with jurisdiction in equity
- n. an office of archives for public or ecclesiastic records; a court of public records
Etymologies
- French chancellerie, from Late Latin cancellaria, from Latin cancellarius, from cancellus ("lattice") (English chancel), from cancelli ("grating, bars") (from which cancel ("cross out (with lines, as in a latticework)")), from the lattice-work that separated a section of a church or court. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English chancerie, alteration of chancelrie; see chancellery. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Interestingly enough, because of the abusive confessions I had been to, I called the chancery and asked if there was a good retired priest confessor living in the area.”
“I called the chancery to see if a chalice had been stolen, and found it had.”
“I'm standing at the chancery, what's called the chancery, outside the grounds where what is often described as the palatial residence of Cardinal Law, Archbishop Law is.”
“Bustling during the day, the chancery was a still place this night, silent but for the scratching of a single quill pen.”
“But separate and distinct organizations called chancery courts, now exist in but a few states; the power to try suits in equity having been given to the judges of the common law courts.”
“The chancery is a necessary element of administration in every diocese.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery
“We may conclude from its effects, as well as its etymology, that a chancery is a court wherein the causes are decided by chance, and wherein the goddess Fortune, perfectly blind, presides.”
Documenting the American South: The Southern Experience in 19-th Century America
“Collins worked in the chancery, which is the office that manages the archdiocese's money.”
“I always find it at last — but it comes too late. a blockhead who speaks boldly can baffle me. is not this of less consequence in chancery. fare well. let me hear from you. are you M.P.?”
“This pencil memorandum is very plain. [hh] It is worthy of special note also, that one of the owners of this volume, a Simon Holdip, writes on the last page of the "Lives of the Ten Emperors," the last in order of binding, "_per me Simone Holdip in te domine speravi_" in the old so-called chancery-hand, while on the first page of the Dedication of the "Familiar Epistles," the first in order of binding, he writes”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘chancery’.
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
-
phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
czardas, cytometer, cytology, cytheromania, cystoscope, cystolith, cyrenaic, cypseline, cyprinoid, cyphonism, cynophobia, cytogenesis and 1298 more...
-
gained in translation
words are like eggs - they have to be broken to appreciate their baroquefinesse
mercy, merci, glory, glorieta, meant amor, much ..., ceraunograph, cannei, lighta, cutchery, forseti, doge, irenarch, pretor, chancery and 15 more...
-
Courtly Love
Variations on the word court.
courtly love, Courtney Love, court, tennis court, the ball is in yo..., courtesy, courtside, courtship, Supreme Court, courtier, court-bubble, courtesy book and 16 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
-
Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young ...
These words are from Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young Lady, 1747-48
adumbrate, virago, varlet, rencounter, akimbo, palliate, amanuensis, amok, equipage, cully, se'ennight, resentments and 560 more...
-
The Whiteness of the Whale
Words in Melville's "Moby Dick"
grapnels, spile, pea coffee, farrago, grego, bosky, bombazine, brevet, cenotaph, cupidity, kelson, obliquity and 164 more...
-
Sweet Smoke of Rhetoric
The ones with which I flavor my speech, and the ones I love to find peppered in literature.
perspicacious, acerbic, vituperation, loquacious, castigate, vitriolic, scintillating, provenance, frolic, attendant, pursuant, epistemology and 313 more...
-
wordhoard
dilatory, ataraxia, hermit, cabana, hut, dome, vestigial, porcine, crapulous, usufruct, curmudgeon, bombastic and 229 more...
-
Henderson the Rain King
Words taken from Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow.
yellowback, unkillable, swack, hoarfrost, decapotable, brownian, mackinaw, taxwise, oratorio, picaresque, masonite, catalpa and 109 more...
-
I am the law!
Words I learnt at law school
appeal, blackletter, contract, dictum, headnote, judgment, litigation, malfeasance, negligence, plaintiff, quantum, remedy and 216 more...
-
Just 'cause I like 'em, C
cryptoxanthin, convent, calcar, chuckle, campanile, covet, complexion, campestral, chirography, counterscarp, caliginous, catabolism and 722 more...
-
Semantic Adventures
cavalier, asphyxiation, august, cadaver, carriwitchet, casuistry, chrononaut, chthonic, erudite, mesmeric, muse, peripeteia and 15 more...
-
rituale romanum
apostolic, vestments, surplice, stole, cassock, sacrament, communion, litany, absolution, transubstantiation, bread, wine and 53 more...
-
letterpress words
things having to do with letterpress, typesetting, and printing.
ligature, quoin, platen, knee, furniture, slugs, leads, chase, ampersand, makeready, pica, duplicator wash and 13 more...
-
Words from the Works of Charles Dickens
A delightful collection of words found in my reading of Dickens.
perspicuity, farinaceous, superciliously, epergne, staylace, sanguinary, myrmidon, suborned, linchpin, depreciatory, unremunerative, propitiation and 18 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for chancery.

chained_bear "'... that still leaves a good deal of room for rum capers, such as getting your man's head in a chancery, as we call it—pinned under your left arm—and hammering away with the other fist till he can neither see nor stand...'"
--P. O'Brian, The Yellow Admiral, 54 Mar 18, 2008