broker

The definition of a broker is a person who buys and sells things on behalf of others.

(noun)

A person who you hire to buy stock for you on the stock exchange is an example of a broker.

To broker is defined as to arrange or facilitate the arrangement of a deal.

(verb)

If you act as a middleman between people selling a property and people buying a property, this is an example of when you broker the deal.

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See broker in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. a person who acts as an agent or intermediary in negotiating contracts, buying and selling, etc.
  2. stockbroker

Origin: ME brokour < Anglo-Norm broceor < OFr brokier, brochier, to broach, tap; orig. sense “wine dealer”

transitive verb, intransitive verb

  1. to act as a broker (for)
  2. to negotiate or bargain; specif., to influence the outcome of (a political convention) by negotiating, making secret agreements, etc.

See broker in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. One that acts as an agent for others, as in negotiating contracts, purchases, or sales in return for a fee or commission.
  2. A stockbroker.
  3. A power broker.
transitive verb bro·kered, bro·ker·ing, bro·kers
To arrange or manage as a broker: broker an agreement among opposing factions.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Anglo-Norman brocour, abrocour

Origin: ; akin to Spanish alboroque, ceremonial gift at conclusion of business deal

Origin: , from Arabic al-barka, the blessing

Origin: , colloquial variant of al-baraka

Origin: : al-, the

Origin: + baraka, blessing, divine favor (from bāraka, to bless; see brk in Semitic roots)

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Word History: Giving gifts to one's broker might be justifiable from an etymological point of view because the word broker may be connected through its Anglo-Norman source, brocour, abrocour, with Spanish alboroque, meaning “ceremony or ceremonial gift after the conclusion of a business deal.” If this connection does exist, “business deal” is the notion shared by the Spanish and Anglo-Norman words because brocour referred to the middleman in transactions. The English word broker is first found in Middle English in 1355, several centuries before we find instances of its familiar compounds pawnbroker, first recorded in 1687, and stockbroker, first recorded in 1706.

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