broker

[broh-ker]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR broker ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an agent who buys or sells for a principal on a commission basis without having title to the property.

a person who functions as an intermediary between two or more parties in negotiating agreements, bargains, or the like.

stockbroker.

verb (used with object)

to act as a broker for: to broker the sale of a house.

verb (used without object)

to act as a broker.

Origin of broker

1350–1400; Middle English broco(u)r < Anglo-French broco(u)r, abrocour middleman, wine merchant; compare Old Provençal abrocador, perhaps based on Spanish alboroque gift or drink concluding a transaction (< Arabic al-burūk the gift, gratuity), with -ador < Latin -ātōr- -ator

Related formsbro·ker·ship, nounsub·bro·ker, noun

broke

[brohk]

verb

a simple past tense of break.

Nonstandard. a past participle of break.

Archaic. a past participle of break.

adjective

without money; penniless.

bankrupt.

noun

Papermaking. paper unfit for sale; paper that is to be repulped.

brokes, wool of poor quality taken from the neck and belly of sheep.

Origin of broke

1655–65 (adj.); 1875–80 (noun)

Synonyms for broke

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR broke ON THESAURUS.COM

4, 5. insolvent, destitute, impoverished.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for broker

merchant, mediator, agent, intermediary, entrepreneur, financier, dealer, stockbroker, intercessor, negotiator, intermediate, go-between, factor, interceder

Examples from the Web for broker

Contemporary Examples of broker

When you are safely out, you give your password to the smuggler who calls it in to the broker to release the funds.
Inside the Smuggling Networks Flooding Europe with Refugees
Barbie Latza Nadeau
December 15, 2014
The broker who sold the policy went so far as to say the doctors had been lying to me.
My Insurance Company Killed Me, Despite Obamacare
Malcolm MacDougall
November 24, 2014
John Kerry wants to broker a deal to stop the violence between Israel and Hamas.
Everyone Says John Kerry Should Stay Out of the Middle East
Josh Rogin
July 13, 2014
Before he heads for the exits, Cantor can do something good for the country and broker a deal updating the Voting Rights Act.
Eric Cantor’s Last, Legacy-Burnishing Task: Update the VRA
Ron Christie
June 16, 2014
Kairkhwa also tried to broker a peace in 2001 between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance with Iranian help, but that failed.
CIA Chief, White House Chief of Staff Long Argued the Taliban 5 Could Go Free
Josh Rogin, Eli Lake
June 7, 2014

Historical Examples of broker

There's a broker I've known down-town—fellow by the name of Relpin.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
You'll have the broker in, and be turned out; that's what'll happen to you.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
His broker called for more margin; he could not respond and was sold out.
The Greater Inclination
Edith Wharton
Your contract is as good only as the reliability of your broker.
About sugar buying for Jobbers
B. W. Dyer
Of this amount he had in his possession—in his broker's possession, that is—but two of the eighths.
The Rise of Roscoe Paine
Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for broker

broker

noun

an agent who, acting on behalf of a principal, buys or sells goods, securities, etc, in return for a commissioninsurance broker

(formerly) short for stockbroker

a dealer in second-hand goods

verb

to act as a broker (in)

Word Origin for broker

C14: from Anglo-French brocour broacher (of casks, hence, one who sells, agent), from Old Northern French broquier to tap a cask, from broque tap of a cask; see broach 1

broke

verb

the past tense of break

adjective

informal having no money; bankrupt

go for broke slang to risk everything in a gambling or other venture

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for broker

late 14c., from Anglo-French brocour "small trader," from abrokur "retailer of wine, tapster;" perhaps from Portuguese alborcar "barter," but more likely from Old French brocheor, from brochier "to broach, tap, pierce (a keg)," from broche "pointed tool" (see broach (n.)), giving original sense of "wine dealer," hence "retailer, middleman, agent." In Middle English, used contemptuously of peddlers and pimps.

1630s (implied in brokering), from broker (n.). Related: Brokered.

broke

adj.

past tense and obsolete past participle of break (v.); extension to "insolvent" is first recorded 1716 (broken in this sense is attested from 1590s). Old English cognate broc meant, in addition to "that which breaks," "affliction, misery."

broker in Culture

broker

A financial agent or intermediary; a middleman.

Idioms and Phrases with broker

broke

see flat broke; go broke; go for (broke); if it ain't broke don't fix it. Also see under break.