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Origin and history of broker

broker(n.)

mid-14c. (mid-13c. in surnames), "commercial agent, factor," also "an agent in sordid business," 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 (Old North French broke, broque) "pointed tool" (see broach (n.)), with an original sense of "wine dealer," hence "retailer, middleman, agent." In Middle English, used contemptuously of peddlers and pimps, "one who buys and sells public office" (late 14c. in Anglo-French), "intermediary in love or marriage" (late 14c.).

broker(v.)

"to act as a broker," 1630s (implied in brokering), from broker (n.). Related: Brokered.

also from 1630s

Entries linking to broker

broach(n.)

"pointed instrument," c. 1300, from Old French broche (12c.) "spit for roasting, awl, point end, top," from Vulgar Latin *brocca "pointed tool" (source also of Spanish broca, Italian brocca), noun use of fem. of Latin adjective broccus "projecting, pointed" (used especially of teeth), perhaps of Gaulish origin (compare Gaelic brog "awl").

brokerage(n.)

mid-15c., "a broker's trade," from broker (n.) + -age. Also, in 17c., "a pimp's trade." From 1620s as "fee or commission charged for doing business as a broker."

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agent
late 15c., "one who acts," from Latin agentem (nominative agens) "effective, powerful," present participle of agere "to set in motion, drive forward; to do, perform; keep in movement" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move"). The meaning "any natural force or subs
factor
early 15c., "commercial agent, deputy, one who buys or sells for another," from French facteur "agent, representative" (Old French factor, faitor "doer, author, creator"), from Latin factor "doer, maker, performer," in Medieval Latin, "agent," agent noun from past participle stem
mackerel
But the word is apparently identical with Old French maquerel "pimp, procurer, broker, agent, intermediary" (itself attested...in English in this sense by early 15c.), a word from a Germanic source (compare Middle Dutch makelaer "broker," from Old...
middleman
in the trading sense, "contractor, negotiator, broker," especially "one who buys merchandise in bulk and sells it in smaller...
blockbuster
The U.S. sense of "real estate broker who sells a house to a black family on an all-white neighborhood," thus sparking an...
margin
Stock market sense of "sum deposited with a broker to cover risk of loss" is from 1848. Related: Margins....
monger
Old English mangere "merchant, trader, broker," agent noun from mangian "to traffic, trade," from Proto-Germanic *mangojan...
bourgeois
1560s, "of or pertaining to the French middle class," from French bourgeois, from Old French burgeis, borjois "town dweller" (as distinct from "peasant"), from borc "town, village," from Frankish *burg "city" (via Germanic from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives refer
negotiate
1590s, "to communicate with another or others in search of mutual agreement," a back-formation from negotiation, or else from Latin negotiatus, past participle of negotiari "carry on business, do business," from negotium "a business, employment, occupation, affair (public or priv
bust
1690s, "sculpture of upper torso and head," from French buste (16c.), from Italian busto "upper body," from Latin bustum "funeral monument, tomb," originally "funeral pyre, place where corpses are burned," perhaps shortened from ambustum, neuter of ambustus "burned around," past

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