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🤝 An intermediary 📦 A reseller 🎭 A stage performer
middleman

middleman

9.6
A performer in old minstrel shows who stood in the middle and led jokes and talk
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪdəlˌmæn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : interlocutor
  • The middleman delighted the crowd by keeping the conversations lively during the performance.

Examples

  • As the middleman in the comedy act, he interacted with the other actors to engage the audience.

  • Jimmy was the center, their middle, and she and Caroline's middleman.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • In the minstrel show, the middleman brought the performers together with his witty dialogue.

Synonyms

interlocutor
vsmiddleman
  • Archaic
9.6

A performer who sits in the middle and leads the talk in a minstrel show

is the male role in that central speaking position
middlewoman
vsmiddleman
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who stands in the middle of a performance and leads the spoken parts

is the male counterpart rather than a female central speaker
middler
vsmiddleman
6.7

Something in the center of a group or line

is a specific theatrical speaking role rather than a general middle position

Idioms

to cut out the middleman
4 3.7

Buy or sell directly from the maker without using other sellers

Surface Forms

middleman singular
middlemen plural

Morphology

middleman = middle + man (semi-transparent) = middle + man

The components literally indicate a 'man in the middle', but the theatrical/minstrel role is a specialized historical usage not predictable from contemporary general usage.

Etymology

Middleman was also used in old minstrel shows for the performer who stood in the center, because he was the person 'in the middle' leading the talk and jokes. This historical use shows the word simply means someone in the centre of a group.