English

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Etymology

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Latin proxeneta, from Ancient Greek.

Noun

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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[ames] 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.

Derived terms

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Anagrams

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French proxénète.

Noun

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proxenet m (plural proxeneți)

  1. pimp

Declension

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