plural proxies
1
: the agency, function, or office of a deputy who acts as a substitute for another
2
a
: authority or power to act for another
b
: a document giving such authority
specifically : a power of attorney authorizing a specified person to vote corporate stock
3
: a person authorized to act for another : procurator
proxy adjective

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Proxies and Proxy Servers

Proxy comes from a contracted form of the Middle English word procuracie (meaning “procuration”). A proxy may refer to a person who is authorized to act for another or it may designate the function or authority of serving in another’s stead. In the latter sense, it generally is preceded by the word by (“vote by proxy”).

Proxy has recently taken on meanings in computing, where it is found in such phrases as proxy server, a computer system that facilitates the exchange of data between users on a network.

Examples of proxy in a Sentence

Since I wouldn't be available to vote, I nominated him to act as my proxy. sent a proxy to the meeting to cast his vote for him
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Always fond of visual aids at his UN speeches, Netanyahu began by holding up a small map of Iran and its proxies in the region, boasting about Israeli military achievements over the past year. Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025 According to Fox’s proxy filing, released Thursday, Murdoch took home a compensation package valued at $33 million in the company’s fiscal 2025, which ended June 30. Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025 There are dozens of little moments of quiet kindness and profound mourning, of gentle reflection and solemnity, of nature reaching out to Atsu, and by proxy, the player. Alyssa Mercante, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2025 Online anti-Palestinian accounts disguise a relentless and vicious campaign to intimidate people into silence by falsely portraying them as racists, and sanction them by proxy by pressuring employers for swift termination. Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for proxy

Word History

Etymology

Middle English proxi, procucie, contraction of procuracie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin procuratia, alteration of Latin procuratio procuration

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of proxy was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Proxy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proxy. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

proxy

noun
plural proxies
1
: authority held by one person to act for another (as in voting)
2
a
: a person holding authority to act for another
b
: a written paper giving a person such authority
proxy adjective

Legal Definition

proxy

noun
plural proxies
1
: the act or practice of a person serving as an authorized agent or substitute for another
used especially in the phrase by proxy
2
a
: authority or power to act for another
b
: a statement or document giving such authorization
specifically : an oral consent or written document (as a power of attorney) given by a stockholder to a specified person or persons to vote corporate stock
3
a
: a person authorized to act or make decisions for another
appointed a health-care proxy
b
: something serving to replace or substitute for another thing
Etymology

Middle English procucie, contraction of procuracie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin procuratia, alteration of Latin procuratio appointment of another as one's agent

More from Merriam-Webster on proxy

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