Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person or group selected to govern in place of a monarch or other ruler who is absent, disabled, or still in minority.
- n. The period during which a regent governs.
- n. The office, area of jurisdiction, or government of regents or a regent.
- adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the style, especially in furniture, prevalent in England during the regency (1811-1820) of George, Prince of Wales (later George IV).
- adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the style prevalent in France during the regency (1715-1723) of Philippe, Duc d'Orléans (1674-1723).
- adj. Of or relating to a regency: regency policies and appointments that were later rescinded.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Rule; authority; government.
- n. More specifically, the office, government, or jurisdiction of a regent; deputed or vicarious government. See regent, 2.
- n. The district under the jurisdiction of a regent or vicegerent.
- n. The body of men intrusted with vicarious government: as, a regency constituted during a king's minority, insanity, or absence from the kingdom.
- n. The existence of a regent's rule; also, the period during which a regent administers the government.
- n. The office of a university regent, or master regent.
- n. The municipal administration of certain towns in northern Europe.
Wiktionary
- n. A system of government that substitutes for the reign of a king or queen when that king or queen becomes unable to rule.
- n. The time during which a regent is in power.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The office of ruler; rule; authority; government.
- n. Especially, the office, jurisdiction, or dominion of a regent or vicarious ruler, or of a body of regents; deputed or vicarious government.
- n. A body of men intrusted with vicarious government.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the period of time during which a regent governs
- n. the office of a regent
- n. the period from 1811-1820 when the Prince of Wales was regent during George III's periods of insanity
Etymologies
- From Latin rex/regere, and English abstract-noun suffix -ency. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Thus Tzu Hsi began her third regency, if you can use the word regency for assuming the full rights of government.”
“I suppose it depends on the type of book - in regency stories, for example, ball gowns and well tied cravats are part of the scene setting.”
“His regency was a time of greed, pretension, and too sudden wealth.”
“As that abdication left Holland for twelve years under a regency, that is to say, under the direct influence of the Emperor, according to the terms of the constitution, there was no need of that union for executing every measure he might have in view against trade and against England, since his will was supreme in Holland.”
Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of Napoleon
“If the regency were allowed to my brother, as head of the house of Cummin, that dignity now rests with me.”
“Being a child only four years old when his father was murdered, a regency was appointed during Azariah's minority. began Azariah ... to reign -- The character of his reign is described by the brief formula employed by the inspired historian, in recording the religious policy of the later kings.”
“Nevertheless, the election is popularly expected to result in the choice of the eldest son of the queen, though an interregnum or a regency is a contingency by no means unusual.”
“This city was still the seat of the Spanish national government, but the feeble junta had been superseded by a national cortes, fairly representative of the nation, which passed some liberal measures, and dissolved the so-called regency which assumed to represent Ferdinand.”
“By the eleventh, this assembly was to name a regency, composed of three persons, to compose the executive power, and to govern in the name of the monarch, until his arrival.”
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country
“The government -- that is, the regency that Peter had left in charge -- sent out deputies, who attempted to pacify them, but could not succeed.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘regency’.
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Brand Theft Auto
A marque list for cars--models or companies who've used common words as their name.
explorer, navigator, frontier, mustang, quest, cougar, sidekick, legend, legacy, ranger, voyager, civic and 266 more...
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Yazhinni Spelling bee
tongue, stallion, scruple, salinity, schedule, rouge, populist, Permian, perspire, pasteurize, multitude, mournful and 227 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1896 more...
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New GRE Preparation List
All the words which I encounter during my GRE studies. :)
rhetoric, errant, arrant, artless, artful, ephemeral, libel, rhapsody, cloy, conjecture, relegate, aberrant and 927 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, R
retinol, rectory, rhubarb, rancor, recension, rood, redivivus, roborate, redound, ripsnorting, ragtag, recruit and 250 more...
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Laiane's Words
ampersand, antediluvian, diaspora, canny, egregious, illusory, torrid, abeyance, banal, ennui, tapir, chortle and 39 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for regency.
bilby "Twenty-four hours after the quake, little medical support, rescue workers or supplies had reached Pariaman regency, the area most affected. Boxes of food and water were stacked at Padang Airport but yet to be distributed. The only presence of authorities in affected areas was the occasional local policeman."
- Tom Allard, Survivors spend night of terror, theage.com.au, 2 October 2009. Oct 1, 2009