Administration \Ad*min`is*tra"tion\ (?; 277), n. [OE. administracioun, L. administratio: cf. F. administration.]

1. The act of administering; government of public affairs; the service rendered, or duties assumed, in conducting affairs; the conducting of any office or employment; direction; management.

His financial administration was of a piece with his military administration. --Macaulay.

2. The executive part of government; the persons collectively who are intrusted with the execution of laws and the superintendence of public affairs; the chief magistrate and his cabinet or council; or the council, or ministry, alone, as in Great Britain.

A mild and popular administration. --Macaulay.

The administration has been opposed in parliament. --Johnson.

3. The act of administering, or tendering something to another; dispensation; as, the administration of a medicine, of an oath, of justice, or of the sacrament.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)