proxenet

Latin proxeneta, from Ancient Greek.

proxenet (plural proxenets)

1. A negotiator; a factor, especially one who negotiates marriages.
   • 1659, Henry More, The Immortality of the Soul, so Farre Forth as It is Demonstrable from the Knowledge of Nature and the Light of Reason, London: J Flesher, for William Morden , →OCLC:

     the common Proxenet or Contractor of all natural Matches and Marriages betwixt Forms and Matter

   • 1668, Deus Justificatus: or the Divine Goodness vindicated, page 135:

     Let therefore Love, which is the Proxenet of Nature , the great instrument of conciliating hearts , beget in thee a return and retribution of Love, and never think of those streams of blood which so copioufly flowed from the wounded body of thy dying Lord, without a passive and melting spirit;

   • 1720, Scotland. Court of Session, ‎Alexander Bruce, The Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session, page 35:

     And having not done it, it's clear that he acted not as a proxenet, but judged himself bound for the Price.

   • 1876 March 31, Josiah Crampton, “The Three Heavens”, in The Pall Mall Budget, volume 16, page 21:

     For centuries it has been the cherished dream of a few philosophers and many divines to be the proxenet of a marriage altogether above the earth , and to associate their names with the sure and final wedlock of science and theology.

2. A madam; a woman who runs a brothel.
   • 1907, Augustus Ravogli, Syphilis in Its Medical, Medico-legal and Sociological Aspects, page 473:

     If taken against their consent, the procuress, or the proxenet who has caused the ruin of the firl less than twenty-one, is severely punished.

   • 1908, Auguste Forel, The Sexual Question, page 301:

     An old proxenet in Paris requested the authorities to transfer the management of her brothel to her daughter, aged nineteen.

   • 1999, Leyla Rouhi, Mediation and Love, page 19:

     Pimps and proxenets took specific charge of the managerial and financial aspects of prosti- tution , and supervised financial transactions with the clients , in addition to purchasing young orphans or abandoned children whom they trained for prostitution.

• proxenetism

• pentorex

Borrowed from French proxénète.

proxenet m (plural proxeneți)

1. pimp