chancery

UK: 'chancery', 'Chancery': /ˈtʃɑːnsəri/

US: (chan′sə rē, chän′-)

Inflections of 'chancery' (n): npl: chanceries

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

chan•cer•y  (chan′sə rē, chän′-), n., pl. -cer•ies. 

1. Government the office or department of a chancellor;
   chancellery.
2. Government an office of public records, esp. those of the Lord Chancellor in England.
3. Government, Law (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice.
4. [Law.]
   • Law Also called court of chancery. a court having jurisdiction in equity;
     court of equity.
   • equity (defs. 3a, b).
5. Religion the administrative office of a diocese.
6. Religion [Rom. Cath. Ch.] a department of the Curia Romana now having the responsibility for issuing bulls to establish new dioceses, benefices, etc.
7. Idioms in chancery:
   • Law in litigation in a court of chancery.
   • [Wrestling, Boxing.] (of a contestant's head) held under an opponent's arm.
   • Idioms in a helpless or embarrassing position.

• Middle English chancerie, variant of chancelrie, syncopated variant of chancellerie chancellery 1325–75

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

chancery / ˈtʃɑːnsərɪ/ noun ( -ceries)

1. Also called: Chancery Division (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice
2. Also called: court of chancery (in the US) a court of equity
3. the political section or offices of an embassy or legation
4. another name for chancellery
5. a court of public records; archives
6. a diocesan office under the supervision of a bishop's chancellor, having custody of archives, issuing official enactments, etc
7. in chancery ⇒ (of a suit) pending in a court of equity
8. in an awkward or helpless situation

Etymology: 14th Century: shortened from chancellery