Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PROX'Y, n. [contracted from procuracy, or some word from the root of procure, proctor.]

1. The agency of another who acts as a substitute for his principal; agency of a substitute; appearance of a representative. None can be familiar by proxy. None can be virtuous or wise by proxy.
2. The person who is substituted or deputed to act for another. A wise man will not commit important business to a proxy, when he can transact it in person. In England, any peer may make another lord of parliament his proxy to vote for him in his absence. – Blackstone.
3. In popular use, an election or day of voting for officers of government.