What does "proxy" mean?

Proxy: The person who is substituted or deputed to act or vote for another. Every peer . . . may make another lord of parliament his proxy, to vote for him in his absence. Blackstone.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A writing by which one person authorizes another to vote in his stead, as in a corporation meeting.
  2. 3.(Eng. Law) The written appointment of a proctor in suits in the ecclesiastical courts. Burrill.
  3. 4.(Eccl.) See Procuration. [Obs.]
  4. 5.To act or vote by proxy; to do anything by the agency of another. [R.]

Sources