intermediary

1 of 2

noun

in·ter·me·di·ary ˌin-tər-ˈmē-dē-ˌer-ē

plural intermediaries

Synonyms of intermediary next

: mediator, go-between

: medium, means

: an intermediate form, product, or stage

intermediary

2 of 2

adjective

: intermediate

: acting as a mediator

an intermediary agent

an intermediary particle

Did you know?

Since inter- means "between, among", an intermediary is someone who moves back and forth in the middle area between two sides—a "go-between". Mediator (which shares the medi- root) is often a synonym, and so is facilitator; broker and agent are often others. Thus, a real-estate broker or agent shuttles between a house's buyer and seller, who may never even meet each other. Financial intermediation is what happens when you put money in a bank or investment firm, which then invests it in various companies; if you want, you can instead cut out the intermediary and invest the money directly in companies of your own choosing.

Example Sentences

Noun He served as an intermediary between the workers and the executives. in the past he's served as an intermediary in several hostage situations Adjective the bridal couple were regally ensconced in intermediary seats at the head table

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

As the size and power of administrative intermediaries has grown, their influence over fundamental healthcare decisions has expanded. —

Wayne Winegarden, Forbes, 5 May 2023 While passwords are still optional, passkeys work so that devices can only share a signature with Google websites and apps, and not with phishing intermediaries. —

David Meyer, Fortune, 3 May 2023 Advertisement Increasingly, the world body finds itself at the center of an international debate about where to draw red lines in supporting Afghanistan and in an uncomfortable position as an intermediary between the West and the Taliban. —

Rick Noack, Washington Post, 2 May 2023 The company was to be an intermediary for credit card processing. —

Emily Steel, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2023 Amid an attempt to maintain operations there, employees made payments to various intermediaries that posed a high risk of corruption and money-laundering, according to Ericsson’s later description of the report’s findings. —

Dylan Tokar, WSJ, 17 Mar. 2023 Platforms are intermediaries that connect and facilitate interactions between two or more sets of users, such as sellers and buyers (as at amazon.com) or artists and listeners (as at spotify.com). —

Vinod Jain, Forbes, 4 May 2023 Consumers won’t immediately see the kinds of discounts that companies are getting, thanks to the long chain of intermediaries between producers and consumers. —

Nate Dicamillo, Quartz, 15 Mar. 2023 Ultimately, this technology makes the existing internet better by eliminating unnecessary intermediaries, increasing efficiencies and empowering users and developers over platforms. —

Ryan Wyatt, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2023

Adjective

The forksheet may be an intermediary step on the way. —

IEEE Spectrum, 24 May 2023 This intermediary step gives you more opportunities to convince them to shift from an advisory role to a full-time team member. —

Arseniy Olkhovskiy, Forbes, 5 May 2023 Hollub sees carbon-neutral oil production as an important intermediary step to curb climate change while industries transition to more sustainable energy practices. —

Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 2 May 2023 The coronavirus’ genetic code is strikingly similar to that of bat coronaviruses, and many scientists suspect COVID-19 jumped into humans either directly from a bat or via an intermediary animal like pangolins, ferrets or raccoon dogs. —

Wire Reports, oregonlive, 19 Mar. 2023 The coronavirus’ genetic code is strikingly similar to that of bat coronaviruses, and many scientists suspect COVID-19 jumped into humans either directly from a bat or via an intermediary animal like pangolins, ferrets, or raccoon dogs. —

Dake Kang And Maria Cheng, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023 The virus appears to have spilled over into humans in two independent instances, probably originating in bats and infecting some unfortunate intermediary species that had the bad luck to be captured and sold in the wild game section of the Huanan wholesale market in Wuhan. —

Ben Ehrenreich, The New Republic, 21 Dec. 2022 Evergrande Property Services had used the cash deposits as collaterals for loans, which were eventually transferred back to parent Evergrande through various intermediary companies. —

Yue Wang, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2023 Levykin says clients will likely be intermediary satellite companies that sell their data to businesses. —

WIRED, 23 Feb. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intermediary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.