Etymology Map
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Comprador

2 stages from Portuguese to English.

Today it means a local agent serving a foreign business; someone seen as serving foreign interests

Where does the word "comprador" come from? It comes from Portuguese comprador, adopted directly into English (1800s).

1
Stage 1 of 2
comprador
Portuguese · 1500s
"buyer, purchasing agent"
'buyer', from comprar 'to buy'; in Portuguese Macau it named the local steward who bought a household's provisions
2
Stage 2 of 2
comprador
English · 1800s
"native agent of a foreign firm"
every Western firm on the China coast relied on a Chinese comprador; Robert Ho Tung rose to be Jardine Matheson's chief comprador in the 1890s, and Mao's 1926 essay on China's classes attacked the 'comprador' class
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Comprador’s story begins in Portuguese: comprador meant “buyer, purchasing agent.” 'buyer', from comprar 'to buy'; in Portuguese Macau it named the local steward who bought a household's provisions. It reached English by 1800s as comprador. Every Western firm on the China coast relied on a Chinese comprador; Robert Ho Tung rose to be Jardine Matheson's chief comprador in the 1890s, and Mao's 1926 essay on China's classes attacked the 'comprador' class. Today, comprador means a local agent serving a foreign business; someone seen as serving foreign interests.