Etymologically
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agency

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 16:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈeɪ.dʒən.si/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin agentia,[2][3][4] from Latin agēns (“effective, powerful”) (accusative agentem), the present participle of agere (“to set in motion, drive; to do, perform”),[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *ag- (“to drive, draw out, move”),[3] with the suffix -ency.[2] Merriam-Webster takes it from agent and -ency, perhaps after Medieval Latin.[5] French agence is recorded from 1653, and Barnhart notes that the word was “in the air” in mid-17th-century Europe, so that its exact route cannot be traced.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Active operation, the faculty of acting: 1658 in the OED and Barnhart,[6][2] the 1650s in Etymonline.[3] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1600.[5]

Semantic evolution

Working as a means to an end, instrumentality, is from 1674,[6] the 1670s in Etymonline.[3] The office or function of an agent in business is from before 1745,[6] and the office of a US Indian agent from 1707.[6] An establishment doing business for others, such as an advertising or travel agency, is by 1861,[3][6] and an administrative body of a government, such as a federal agency, is a later sense.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 1658 – active operation.[6][2]
  • 1674 – instrumentality.[6]
  • 1707 – an Indian agency.[6]
  • before 1745 – the office of an agent.[6]
  • 1861 – a business acting for others.[3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A business that acts for others: a travel agency.
  2. An administrative department of a government or international body.
  3. Action or operation; the means by which something is done; instrumentality.
  4. The office or function of an agent.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster