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agency

/ˈeɪ.d͡ʒən.si/noun

agency is spelled A-G-E-N-C-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 74 times per million words in written English, the 1,427th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, agency means “The capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of agency is agencies.

How many letters and syllables are in agency?

Letters6: A-G-E-N-C-Y
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing74 times per million words; the 1,427th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is agency?

Agency appears 74 times per million words in written English, the 1,427th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce agency?

  • /ˈeɪ.d͡ʒən.si/

Agency has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-agency.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of agency

  • agencies plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does agency mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power.

  2. 2

    The capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices.

    moral agency

  3. 3

    A medium through which power is exerted or an end is achieved.

  4. 4

    The office or function of an agent; also, the relationship between a principal and that person's agent.

    authority of agency

  5. 5

    An establishment engaged in doing business for another; also, the place of business or the district of such an agency.

  6. 6

    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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate agency?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of agency: agcy, agcy..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Agency in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcapacité d'agir (capacity of acting or of exerting power), agentivité (capacity of individuals to act independently), agence (office of an agent, or relation between a…), action, organisme (establishment engaged in doing business for…)
GermanWille (capacity of acting or of exerting power), Agency, Handlungsfähigkeit (capacity of individuals to act independently), Agentur (office of an agent, or relation between a…), Behörde (government office)
Spanishalbedrío (capacity of acting or of exerting power), agencia (capacity of individuals to act independently), oficina (establishment engaged in doing business for…)
Portugueseagência (establishment engaged in doing business for…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does agency come from?

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

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after agency