Residency - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

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SKIP TO CONTENT residency /ˈrɛzɪdɪnsi/ /ˈrɛzɪdənsi/ IPA guide

Other forms: residencies

Your residency is where you live, officially. A residency is also a temporary professional visit, like when a doctor does a residency at a hospital or a poet does a residency at a school.

When someone emigrates to another country, they don't just visit temporarily — they gain residency in the new country, becoming a legal resident. And if you get a driver's license, you'll get it in the state where you have residency. Another way to use this noun is to mean "a stage of medical training." After attending medical school, new doctors have a residency at a hospital, where they specialize in a particular branch of medicine.

Definitions of residency

noun the act of dwelling in a place synonyms: abidance, residence see moresee less types: lodging the act of lodging occupancy, tenancy an act of being a tenant or occupant habitation, inhabitancy, inhabitation the act of dwelling in or living permanently in a place (said of both animals and men) type of: act, deed, human action, human activity something that people do or cause to happen
noun the position of physician who is receiving special training in a hospital (usually after completing an internship) see moresee less type of: berth, billet, office, place, position, post, situation, spot a job in an organization
noun a set period during which a musician, artist, or author performs or works at one location

Pronunciation US /ˈrɛzɪdɪnsi/ UK /ˈrɛzɪdənsi/ Cite this entry Style: MLA

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Copy citation DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘residency'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback Word Family

Vocabulary lists containing residency

Americanized Sara Saedi

In this memoir, Sara Saedi describes her shocking discovery as a young teen that she was an undocumented immigrant and her journey to getting a green card.

The Prince and the Dressmaker Jen Wang

An inventive seamstress befriends a prince with an eye for unconventional fashion.

A Light in the Darkness Albert Marrin

This biography details the life of Janusz Korczak, a Polish doctor who refused to abandon the orphaned children in his care during the Holocaust.

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