Regency

How to spell regency

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce regency

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does regency mean?

1. nounThe office, authority, or period during which a regent governs in place of a monarch.

Regency in a sentence

• The young king was too small to rule, so a regency was established until he came of age.

• During the regency the prince signed laws on behalf of his ailing father.

Where does regency come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb regere, meaning 'to rule, to guide, to keep straight', the same root that gave us 'regent', 'regal', and 'rex', the Latin word for king. From regere came the medieval Latin regentia, describing the office or authority of one who governs on behalf of another. English took up 'regency' in the fifteenth century, chiefly to name the rule exercised by a regent when a monarch was absent, too young, or unfit to reign. Over time it gathered a second life as a label for specific historical periods of such rule, most famously the British Regency of 1811 to 1820, when the Prince of Wales governed for his ailing father, George the Third; that era lent its name to a distinctive style of architecture and furniture. The spelling keeps the soft 'g' before the 'e', and the ending is -ency rather than -ancy, which is the main thing to fix in memory.

How the word is built

• reg- (from Latin regere, to rule)
• -ent (one who does)
• -cy (state or office)