intermediary

UK/ˌɪntə(ɹ)ˈmiːdi.əɹi/US/ˌɪn(t)ɚˈmidiˌɛɹi/

nounC2Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,716 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: intermediaries

An intermediary is somebody who acts between two sides to help them agree. Act as an intermediary, through an intermediary, a trusted intermediary.

The point is that the sides do not have to speak to each other, which is why hostage negotiations and hostile takeovers both run through one. In finance an intermediary is any firm standing between a saver and a borrower.

Definitions of intermediary

1nounintermediarySomebody who acts between two sides to help them agree.C2
“The two countries used a neutral intermediary to pass messages during the talks.”

intermediary is a go-between.

Where it comes from

French intermediaire comes from Latin intermedius, lying between, from inter plus medius, middle.

French
intermédiaire
English, today
intermediary

From French intermédiaire, adjusted to simulate a borrowing from intermediārius.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

intermediary in the wild

Lodging can be facilitated by an intermediary such as an online marketplace.
Lodging
The sender remains anonymous because each intermediary knows only the location of the immediately preceding and following nodes.
Onion routing
An intermediary, also known as a middleman or go-between, is defined in various ways, according to context.
Intermediary
Originally and usually, the process entails successive travel ("shuttling") by the intermediary, from the working location of one principal, to that of another.
Shuttle diplomacy
Many food pastes are an intermediary stage in the preparation of food.
Paste (food)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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