broker
Americannoun
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brokers
plural
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an agent who buys or sells for a principal on a commission basis without having title to the property.
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a person who functions as an intermediary between two or more parties in negotiating agreements, bargains, or the like.
verb (used with object)
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brokers,
present (3rd person singular)
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brokered,
past participle, past
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brokering
present participle
verb (used without object)
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brokers,
present (3rd person singular)
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brokered,
past participle, past
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brokering
present participle
noun
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an agent who, acting on behalf of a principal, buys or sells goods, securities, etc, in return for a commission
insurance broker
-
(formerly) short for stockbroker
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a dealer in second-hand goods
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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brokersimple
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brokerssimple
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have brokeredperfect
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has brokeredperfect
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am brokeringprogressive
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are brokeringprogressive
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is brokeringprogressive
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have been brokeringperfect progressive
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has been brokeringperfect progressive
Past
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brokeredsimple
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had brokeredperfect
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was brokeringprogressive
-
were brokeringprogressive
-
had been brokeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of broker
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English broco(u)r, from Anglo-French abrocour, broco(u)r “middleman, wine merchant”; compare Old Provençal abrocador, perhaps based on Spanish alboroque “gift or drink concluding a transaction” (from Arabic al-burūk “the gift, gratuity”), with -ador, from Latin -ātor -ator; alternatively, from Old French brocheor, brokeor “wine merchant,” derivative of broche ( see broach ( def. ))
Explanation
A broker is someone who buys or sells for someone else for a commission. You may go to a real estate company to get a broker to help you buy a house. In Middle English broker meant "peddler or retailer." Nowadays a broker still sells things — but she's acting as an agent making deals for someone else and collecting a commission for all that work. Used as a verb, broker means to arrange a deal or negotiate. Working for an advisory firm, a broker may convince you to invest in a company — so the broker would broker a business deal.
Vocabulary lists containing broker
This Week in Words: January 13 - 19, 2018
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"Hip-Hop as Culture" and "I Am Somebody"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 27–March 5, 2021
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
MarketWatch Picks: I let my broker take over my IRA.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
But it took Jimmy Carter to broker the Camp David Accords six years later, which brought a lasting peace between Egypt and Israel.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
In Florida’s Black-majority 20th District, which was redrawn this year, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz finished ahead of four Black rivals in a crowded field, and will face Brent Andersen, an insurance broker, in November.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
However, if the stocks fall past an agreed level it can trigger what is known as a margin call - when a broker demands payment of the debt.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Once a standard is established around all these real estate processes, the broker can focus a lot more on you and your needs, not on chasing documents.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
“It is totally standard for MA plans to pay commissions to insurance brokers who sign Medicare beneficiaries up for their plans; this new relationship is plausibly just a variation on that broader theme.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
It has also become a major importer of illicit Iranian crude, according to industry analysts, shipping brokers and the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The norm at U.S. companies is for management to gild the lily, knowing the analysts at big Wall Street brokers will relay the spin as their own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
But these narratives tell you nothing more than that Wall Street’s brokers were exposed at impressionable ages to the Goldilocks fairy tale.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
From start to finish, brokers and defectors said, going first class could take as little as three weeks.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Another advantage is that the interest earned is not automatically swept into a settlement account, as it is with some brokered CDs available.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
It became a leading producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas, thanks to international partnerships and investments that had been brokered.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
A Gulf diplomat later confirmed the ceasefire was brokered by Qatar, the US and Iran.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Voila, Ms. Bass brokered a compromise with her progressive City Council to delay the $30 an hour minimum by two years and phase in increases more slowly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Historians have emphasized the several compromises the delegates in Philadelphia brokered to produce the constitutional consensus: the interest of large versus small states; federal versus state jurisdiction; the sectional bargain over slavery.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Jesus was not brokering a deal between two powers.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
RXO is a large third-party logistics firm, or 3PL, brokering truck transportation, freight forwarding, and last-mile delivery for customers in an asset-light business model.
From Barron's ● May 7, 2026
European leaders and the prime minister of Pakistan, which is brokering U.S.-Iran talks, warned that the operations could be putting the truce at risk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
Pakistan’s prominent role in brokering a two-week cease-fire between the U.S. and Israel and Iran places it in an unusual position: on the front line of international diplomacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
“But I have access to Madoc. I have access to Balekin. I’m our best shot at brokering a deal.”
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
