agency
/ˈeɪdʒənsi/
The capacity to act, or an organization or person authorized to act for others; the word covers business, legal, government and philosophical senses.
Definition
Agency has two broad families of meaning. In the first, it is the power or capacity to act and make choices, as in a person's sense of agency. In the second, it is an arrangement in which one party acts on behalf of another, or the organization that does so. Businesses that sell creative, marketing, travel, talent or property services are called agencies because they act for clients. Governments use the word for administrative bodies that carry out public policy. Which sense applies is almost always clear from the surrounding words, such as advertising, government or travel.
In a sentence
The agency proposed three campaign routes in its first presentation.
After the reorganization, the team felt a stronger sense of agency over its own roadmap.
Common mix-up
Do not assume agency always means a marketing firm. In law and politics it can mean a state body or a relationship of authority.
