Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Regent \Re"gent\ (r?"jent), a. [L. regens, -entis, p. pr. of
   regere to rule: cf. F. r['e]gent. See {Regiment}.]
   1. Ruling; governing; regnant. ``Some other active regent
      principle . . . which we call the soul.'' --Sir M. Hale.

   2. Exercising vicarious authority. --Milton.

   {Queen regent}. See under {Queen}, n.

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.

Source : WordNet®

regent
     adj : acting or functioning as a regent or ruler; "prince-regent"
           [syn: {regent(ip)}]
     n 1: members of a governing board [syn: {trustee}]
     2: someone who rules during the absence or incapacity or
        minority of the country's monarch