ˈmid ə lˌman, -aa(ə)n noun
( plural middlemen )
1. obsolete : a soldier at the middle of a file
2. : one that adopts or follows a middle course
3. : an intermediary or agent between two parties (as in business dealings, management, administration, or negotiations): as
a. : a dealer or agent intermediate between the producer of goods and the retailer or consumer ; specifically : a person or business firm that performs functions or services in the transfer of title to goods in their flow from producers (as farmers and manufacturers) to industrial users and ultimate consumers — see agent middleman , merchant middleman
b. : an intermediary between landlord and tenant (as for collection of rents or management of property) : bailiff
c. : an agent for one (as a professional entertainer or the owner of a patent or copyright) that seeks to sell services or an intangible commodity
4. : one leasing land in Ireland in large tracts and subletting it in small portions
5. : one that transmits ideas, cultural standards, or similar intangibles
the perfect middleman for this new movement of ideas — Van Wyck Brooks
a kind of middleman of taste between the experimenters and the general public — F.O.Matthiessen
6. : a performer in a minstrel show who occupies the middle seat