proxy

[prok-see]

noun

plural

proxies 

1. the agency, function, or power of a person authorized to act as the deputy or substitute for another.

2. a person authorized to act as a deputy or substitute for another; agent.

3. a written authorization empowering another person to vote or act for the signer, such as at a meeting of stockholders.

4. an ally or confederate who can be relied upon to speak or act in one's behalf.

5. Computer.

   1. a server or program that receives requests, filters them, and forwards them to a network on behalf of another computer or network which it represents under a surrogate IP address: used to provide anonymity or increased security or to carry out intermediate processing.

   2. a placeholder programming object whose function is to delegate the execution of an action to one or more other objects it controls access to, allowing the placeholder to carry out other processing before and after that action.

adjective

1. relating to or having the agency, function, or power of a person authorized to act as the deputy or substitute for another.

   If you are unable to reach the polls, you can choose a proxy voter to cast your ballot for you.

   Because of the distance to be traveled, a proxy groom stood in for the queen's future husband.

2. (especially of a conflict) occurring between states, people, etc., who are directed, influenced, or funded by other states, people, etc..

   Proxy wars were a major feature of the Cold War.

   The new CEO won control of the company after a proxy battle.

proxy

/ ˈprɒksɪ /

noun

1. a person authorized to act on behalf of someone else; agent

   to vote by proxy

2. the authority, esp in the form of a document, given to a person to act on behalf of someone else

3. computing short for proxy server

proxy

1. A person authorized to act for another, or the written authorization to act for another.

Shareholders in corporations may designate proxies to represent them at stockholders' meetings and vote their shares.

Word History and Origins

Origin of proxy¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English prokesye, procusie, contraction of procuracy “procuration”; procure, -acy

Word History and Origins

Origin of proxy¹

C15: prokesye, contraction of procuracy, from Latin prōcūrātiō procuration; see _procure

Example Sentences

But they insisted, as did their clients, that they were unwitting pawns, proxies – one might even say "drones" – in a shadow war against the West.

Read more on BBC

The brokerage maintains its buy rating on Aneka Tambang, citing the company’s gold proxy positioning, upside from persistently high gold prices and solid long-term outlook.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Many requested anonymity, saying they feared that he or his proxies would retaliate against them through the courts’ oversight system, the state bar association or the influence he wields more broadly.

Read more on Salon

The political winds are shifting, and so are the country’s two biggest proxy advisers.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The merger drew the ire of several large Core Scientific shareholders, including Two Seas Capital, which filed a proxy in opposition to the merger in September, and has remained vocal on the subject since then.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• intermediary 
• stand-in 
• surrogate