WORD OF THE DAY

To disintermediate in economics is to cut out the middleman, simplifying a transaction by selling directly to a consumer instead of using a distributor.

Disintermediate essentially means "remove the intermediaries," a word with a Latin root defined as "that which is between." So in the business and financial worlds, whenever you remove people or steps in the middle of a transaction, you disintermediate. In banking, this might mean buying stocks directly instead of hiring a money manager. And in manufacturing it could be selling goods online to customers, instead of hiring distributors and selling to stores.