proxy

[prok-see] /ˈprɒk si/
noun, plural proxies.
1.
the agency, function, or power of a person authorized to act as the deputy or substitute for another.
2.
the person so authorized; substitute; agent.
3.
a written authorization empowering another person to vote or act for the signer, as at a meeting of stockholders.
4.
an ally or confederate who can be relied upon to speak or act in one's behalf.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English prokesye, procusie, contraction of procuracy procuration. See procure, -acy
Examples from the web for proxy
  • Scientists must go through a huge check-list of reasons why they must use a living animal and not a proxy to do their research.
  • In this event the visitor by proxy lays her own card as well as that of the invalid on the tray proffered her.
  • Serving as the other's consigliere, as well as proxy.
  • Loan default rates, etc serve as an incredibly poor proxy for educational quality.
  • It sounds corny, but you got proxy thrills of power.
  • The browser could then be tricked into sending secure messages to both the legitimate server and the malicious proxy.
  • All traffic from a certain network is forced through the proxy, allowing communications to be monitored and modified on the fly.
  • The goal is to use genetically modified cats as a better proxy for human diseases.
  • proxy data shows the globe's temperature has increased since the little ice age.
  • Modern life has given us the possibility to be predators by proxy.
British Dictionary definitions for proxy

proxy

/ˈprɒksɪ/
noun (pl) proxies
1.
a person authorized to act on behalf of someone else; agent: to vote by proxy
2.
the authority, esp in the form of a document, given to a person to act on behalf of someone else
3.
(computing) short for proxy server
Word Origin
C15: prokesye, contraction of procuracy, from Latin prōcūrātiō procuration; see procure
Word Origin and History for proxy
n.

early 15c., proccy, prokecye, "agency of one who acts instead of another; letter of power of attorney," contraction of Anglo-French procuracie (c.1300), from Medieval Latin procuratia "administration," from Latin procuratio "a caring for, management," from procurare "manage" (see procure). Also cf. proctor (n.). Meaning "person who acts in place of another" is from 1610s.

proxy in Culture

proxy definition


A person authorized to act for another, or the written authorization to act for another.

Note: Shareholders in corporations may designate proxies to represent them at stockholders' meetings and vote their shares.
proxy in Technology

networking
A process that accepts requests for some service and passes them on to the real server. A proxy may run on dedicated hardware or may be purely software. It may transform the request in some way or provide some additional layer of functionality such as caching or remote access. A proxy may be intended to increase security, e.g. a web proxy that allows multiple clients inside an organisation to access the Internet through a single secure, shared connection.
(2007-09-03)