broker

Etymology 1

From broke + -er.

adj

1. comparative form of broke: more broke

Etymology 2

From Middle English broker, brokour, brocour, from Anglo-Norman brocour (“small trader”) (compare also abroker (“to act as a broker”)), from Old Dutch *brokere (“one who determines the usages of trade, manager”), from broke, bruyck, breuck (“use, usage, trade”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūkī (“use, custom”), from Proto-Germanic *brūkiz (“use, custom”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to use, enjoy”), equivalent to brook + -er. Cognates Cognate with Middle Low German brukere (“a broker”), Danish bruger (“a broker, user, handler”), Swedish bruk (“use, custom, trade, business”), Old English broc (“use, profit, advantage, foredeal”). Compare also French brocanter (“to deal in second-hand goods”) from the same Germanic source. More at brook.

noun

1. A mediator between a buyer and seller.
2. A stockbroker.
3. A mediator in general, one who liaises between two or more parties to attempt to achieve an outcome of some kind.
   The peace plan was representative of Benedict's inability to appear as a neutral broker of peace 2014, Spencer C. Tucker, World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection, page 244
4. (computing) An agent involved in the exchange of messages or transactions.

verb

1. (intransitive) To act as a broker; to mediate in a sale or transaction.
2. (transitive) To act as a broker in; to arrange or negotiate.
   When you first arrived on Menae, I had a hard time seeing how you flying off with one of our best generals would benefit our fight against the Reapers. However, as I now watch turian and krogan fighters working together to take down a Reaper destroyer, I must admit I am impressed. You've brokered an alliance that many thought impossible. 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Impressive work
   In Armando Iannucci’s sitcom The Thick of It, government spin doctor Malcolm Tucker brokers a peace with his opposition counterpart. 2018-07-16, Kate Maltby, Ava Etemadzadeh, “Harassment is parliament’s dirty cross-party secret. Is it about to change?”, in The Guardian