Definition of "regent"

regent

/ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/

noun
plural regents
1. (now rare) A ruler.
2. One who rules in place of the monarch, especially because the monarch is too young, absent, or disabled.
3. (now chiefly historical) A member of a municipal or civic body of governors, especially in certain European cities.
  Quotations
  This perception, however, does no justice to the regents of the city of Amsterdam.
  1999, Geert Mak, translated by Philipp Blom, Amsterdam: A Brief Life of the City, Vintage, published 2001, page 139
4. (Scotland, Canada, US) A member of governing board of a college or university; also a governor of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.
5. (Indonesia) The chief executive of a regency
adjective
comparative more regent, superlative most regent
1. Ruling; governing; regnant.
  Quotations
  Some other active regent principle […] which we call the soul.
  a. 1677, Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677
2. Exercising vicarious authority.
  Quotations
  the regent powers
  1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,