Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Regent \Re"gent\, n. [F. r['e]gent. See {Regent}, a.]
   1. One who rules or reigns; a governor; a ruler. --Milton.

   2. Especially, one invested with vicarious authority; one who
      governs a kingdom in the minority, absence, or disability
      of the sovereign.

   3. One of a governing board; a trustee or overseer; a
      superintendent; a curator; as, the regents of the
      Smithsonian Institution.

   4. (Eng.Univ.) A resident master of arts of less than five
      years' standing, or a doctor of less than twwo. They were
      formerly privileged to lecture in the schools.

   {Regent bird} (Zo["o]l.), a beautiful Australian bower bird
      ({Sericulus melinus}). The male has the head, neck, and
      large patches on the wings, bright golden yellow, and the
      rest of the plumage deep velvety black; -- so called in
      honor of the Prince of Wales (afterward George IV.), who
      was Prince Regent in the reign of George III.

   {The Regents of the University of the State of New York}, the
      members of a corporate body called the University of New
      York. They have a certain supervisory power over the
      incorporated institution for Academic and higher education
      in the State.

Bower bird \Bow"er bird`\ (Zo["o]l.)
   An Australian bird ({Ptilonorhynchus violaceus or
   holosericeus}), allied to the starling, which constructs
   singular bowers or playhouses of twigs and decorates them
   with bright-colored objects; the satin bird.

   Note: The name is also applied to other related birds of the
         same region, having similar habits; as, the spotted
         bower bird ({Chalmydodera maculata}), and the regent
         bird ({Sericulus melinus}).