Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One agreed upon or appointed to judge or decide a disputed issue; an arbitrator.
  • noun One whose opinion or judgment is considered authoritative or worthy of respect.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A person chosen by the parties in a controversy to decide their differences; one who decides points at issue; an arbitrator; a referee; an umpire.
  • noun In a general sense, a person who has the power of judging and determining absolutely according to his own pleasure; one whose power of deciding and governing is not limited; one who has a matter under his sole authority for adjudication.
  • To act as arbiter between; judge.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A person appointed, or chosen, by parties to determine a controversy between them.
  • noun Any person who has the power of judging and determining, or ordaining, without control; one whose power of deciding and governing is not limited.
  • transitive verb obsolete To act as arbiter between.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person appointed, or chosen, by parties to determine a controversy between them; an arbitrator.
  • noun A person or object having the power of judging and determining, or ordaining, without control; one whose power of deciding and governing is not limited.
  • verb transitive To act as arbiter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone chosen to judge and decide a disputed issue
  • noun someone with the power to settle matters at will

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English arbitre, from Old French, from Latin arbiter, of Phoenician origin; see עrb in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French arbitre, from Latin arbiter ("a witness, judge, literally one who goes to see"), from ar- for ad- ("to") + betere ("to come").

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Examples

  • While inviting Iran to the upcoming conference on Afghanistan seems like a prudent move — engaging Iran first on a key area of mutual concern rather than going after the big issues outright — it’s important to remember that Khamenei is the main arbiter of Iran’s foreign policy.

    Wonk Room » Against Tehran-ology 2009

  • The arbiter was a paper pusher's nightmare called Level Two, a sprawling management complex in Reston, Va., that had to be consulted on the slightest matters, yet had no authority to make decisions.

    Nasa's Space Station Zero 2008

  • It will be McCain if race is the final arbiter, which is also very possible.

    Gordon Brown, Charlie Whelan and Me 2008

  • [The physician] cannot escape the role of mediator, or arbiter, which is forced on him when a former syphilitic comes to his surgery and asks: Doctor, is it safe for me to marry? ...

    Syphilis from 1880 to 1920: A Public Health Nightmare and the First Challenge to Medical Ethics 2000

  • "Nothing pleases him more than to be called the arbiter of Christendom," wrote

    The Age of the Reformation Preserved Smith 1910

  • Mr. McLane, in answer to Sir Charles's request for information on the subject, stated that the difficulty in the way of the adoption of the line recommended by the arbiter was the want of authority in the

    A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 3, part 2: Martin Van Buren 1878

  • "The arbiter is the Yemeni people and not the U.S. embassy, the United States or the EU," he said.

    Boston.com Top Stories 2011

  • "The arbiter is the Yemeni people and not the U.S. embassy, the United States or the EU," he said.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • According to Tacitus, Petronius was called arbiter elegantiae because the emperor consulted him on all matters of taste.

    NYT > Home Page By JUSTIN DAVIDSON 2011

  • "The arbiter is the people and not the American Embassy, the United States or the E.U.," Mr. Saleh said in his speech, The Associated Press reported.

    NYT > Home Page By LAURA KASINOF 2011

Comments

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  • not arbitrator.

    February 19, 2012