Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE'GEN-CY, n. [L. regens, from rego, to govern.]

1. Rule; authority; government. – Hooker.
2. Vicarious government. – Temple.
3. The district under the jurisdiction of a vicegerent. – Milton.
4. The body of men intrusted with vicarious government; as, a regency constituted during a king's minority, insanity, or absence from the kingdom.