Regency, Regent

REGENCY - The authority of the person in monarchical countries invested with the right of governing the state in the name of the monarch, during his minority, absence, sickness or other inability.

REGENT - A ruler, a governor. The term is usually applied to one who governs a regency, or rules in the place of another.

In the canon law, it signifies a master or professor of a college. It sometimes means simply a ruler, director, or superintendent; as, in New York, where the board who have the superintendence of all the colleges, academies and schools, are called the regents of the University of the state of New York.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.