# How do you research the usage of a word?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-research-the-usage-of-a-word/815383>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 4, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-research-the-usage-of-a-word/815383 "2018-06-04T01:28:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2018, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-research-the-usage-of-a-word/815383/6 "2018-06-04T09:13:22Z")

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I was also taken aback when I first encountered that use of ‘agency.’ I asked at SDMB and got this response:

> [@Trump's Republican primary campaign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/3095):
>
> Used in that sense it’s pretty much a term of art just for lawyers & philosophers. But it’s a commonly-used term by both those groups.
> 
> You’re reading a lot here written by folks who are either actual or armchair lawyers & philosophers.

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