middleman
n.a person who acts as a link between two other people or groups. You use this when someone helps you buy or sell something without being the actual owner.
n.a person who acts as an intermediary between two parties in a transaction or negotiation. Often used in commercial contexts to describe a broker or agent.
“The middleman helped us find a good deal on the car.”
“By using a middleman, the buyer and seller could negotiate the price without meeting each other directly.”
“The rise of digital marketplaces has significantly reduced the role of the traditional middleman, allowing producers to reach consumers through direct online channels.”
“While the hitmen had never known the identity of their ultimate client, Muscat had the name of the middleman: Melvin Theuma.”
“It is a loan from the Tupí-Guaraní language, whose speakers served as middlemen in the slave trade with whites (and, like the Andoque, were sometimes enslaved themselves).”
From Middle English myddil man, equivalent to middle + man.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.