proxenet

Noun

proxenet (plural proxenets)

1. A negotiator; a factor, especially one who negotiates marriages.
   • the common Proxenet or Contractor of all natural Matches and Marriages betwixt Forms and Matter1659, 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[ames] Flesher, for William Morden […], →OCLC
   • 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;1668, Deus Justificatus: or the Divine Goodness vindicated, page 135
2. A madam; a woman who runs a brothel.
   • 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.1907, Augustus Ravogli, Syphilis in Its Medical, Medico-legal and Sociological Aspects, page 473
   • An old proxenet in Paris requested the authorities to transfer the management of her brothel to her daughter, aged nineteen.1908, Auguste Forel, The Sexual Question, page 301