chancery
Plural: chanceries
Noun
- A court of equity; an office for public records.
- a court with jurisdiction in equity
- an office of archives for public or ecclesiastic records; a court of public records
- In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873 it became the chancery division of the High Court of Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity.
- In the United States, a court of equity; equity; proceeding in equity.
- The type of building that houses a diplomatic mission or embassy.
- The type of building that houses the offices and administration of a diocese; the offices of a diocese.
- In the Middle Ages, a government office that produced and notarized official documents.
- The position of a boxer's head when under his adversary's arm.
- Any awkward predicament.
- Ellipsis of chancery hand.
Adv
- With the head of an antagonist under one's arm, so that one can pommel it with the other fist at will.
- In an awkward situation; wholly under the power of someone else.
Examples
- The decision to play CHANCERY felt like a legal maneuver, securing his lead.
Origin / Etymology
From French chancellerie, from Late Latin cancellaria, from Latin cancellarius, from Latin cancellus (“lattice”) (English chancel), from Latin cancelli (“grating, bars”), from the lattice-work that separated a section of a church or court.
See related chancellor and chancellery, and the more distantly related incarcerate (“put behind bars”), from carcer (“prison”).
The adverbial form is an allusion to the condition of a person involved in the chancery court.
Synonyms
court of chancery, in chancery
Scrabble Score: 18
chancery: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordchancery: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
chancery: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary