broker

(brōˈkər)

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 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.