''chancery'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260904134559-00-⌔

chancery - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

chancery (countable and uncountable, plural chanceries)

• (historical) 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 equity¹
• (US, law) A court of equity; equity; a proceeding in equity.¹
  • ✤ Synonym: chancery court
• The type of building that houses a diplomatic mission or embassy.
  • ✤ The territorial expansion of the United States thus caused no great political stir in the chanceries of Europe.²
• The type of building that houses the offices and administration of a diocese; the offices of a diocese.
• (historical) In the Middle Ages, a government office that produced and notarized official documents.
• (boxing, slang) The position of a boxer’s head when under his adversary’s arm.
  • ✤ The Chicken himself attributed this punishment to his having had the misfortune to get into Chancery early in the proceedings, when he was severely fibbed by the Larkey one, and heavily grassed.³
• (slang, archaic) Any awkward predicament.
• (writing) Ellipsis of chancery hand.

Adverb

chancery (not comparable)

• (boxing) With the head of an antagonist under one’s arm, so that one can pommel it with the other fist at will.
  • ✤ [Round] 9. This was a scientific round on both sides; Acton got away well; and also parried some tremendous blows. The latter, however, received a chancery nobber; but he contended every inch of ground till he went down.⁴
  • ✤ 15th round. Chancery. Fibbing. Biggs makes dreadful work with his left. Break away. Rally. Biggs down. Betting still six to four on the gown-boy.⁵
• (figurative) In an awkward situation; wholly under the power of someone else.

Etymology

From Middle English chancerie, a reduced form of chancellerie. See chancellery.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹɪ/, /ˈt͡ʃænsəɹɪ/
• Audio (Southern England): 🔊
• Audio (Southern England): 🔊
• (UK) IPA: /ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹi/, /ˈt͡ʃansəɹi/

Printed 2026-09-04.

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Footnotes

1. “chancery”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. ↩ ↩²

2. 1975, Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital. 1848-1875, published 1995, page 165: ↩

3. 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC: ↩

4. 1823 May 14, “Sporting Intelligence”, in The Literary Humbug ‎${}^{[1]}$, number 1, page 15, Between Peter Crawley and Dick Acton: ↩

5. 1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Fight at Slaughter House”, in Men’s Wives, page 17: ↩