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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.
Examples of intermediary in a Sentence
Nataliya Vasilyeva, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
Meanwhile, new earn-and-learn intermediaries — those in the business of setting up apprenticeship programs and hiring apprentices — were excited at the prospect of change.
—Ryan Craig, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
Kyle Westaway, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
But the next—and most important—step is to detect errors and correct them by measuring their locations in the intermediary quantum spin levels of the antimony atom.
—IEEE Spectrum, 5 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for intermediary
Cite this Entry
“Intermediary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intermediary. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
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intermediary
noun
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