Meaning of agency In English

• 0 a business that represents one group of people when dealing with another group:

  • an advertising/employment/estate/travel agency

  • an overseas aid agency

  • the Central Intelligence Agency

• 1 the ability to take action or to choose what action to take:

  • The protest gave us a sense of agency, a sense of our own power to make a difference.

  • When the legal system acquitted these women on the grounds of insanity it denied their agency.

  • She was freed from prison through the agency of her doctor.

  • They believed this had happened through divine agency (= because of the actions of God or a god).

• 2 a business acting for or representing a person, an organization, or another business:

  • an advertising/employment agency

  • a real estate agency

  • federal agencies

  • the Environmental Protection Agency

• 3 a business that provides a service to other people or organizations:

  • Background checks may be done in-house or by an outside agency.

  • She now runs an agency which last year catered for more than 17,000 travellers.

• 4 a government department that is responsible for a particular activity:

  • Scottish Natural Heritage, the conservation agency, has finally managed to get approval for the project.

  • security/intelligence/immigration, etc. agency In a lengthy response to the report, the immigration agency stated that it will follow the recommendations.

  • a government/federal/state agency