arbitration

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English arbitracioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French arbitracion,^[4][2][5][6] and directly from Latin arbitrātiō (“judgement, will”),^[2][5][7] a noun of action from the past participle of arbitror (“to be of an opinion, give a decision”),^[2][4] from arbiter (“judge, umpire, mediator”), the source of the English words arbiter and arbitrate.^[2][5] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1312 for the settlement of a dispute by a referee whom the parties choose.^[8] Etymonline and Barnhart explain the Latin noun as "one who goes somewhere" (as a witness or judge), from ad- (“to”) and baetō (“to come, go”), a verb of unknown origin,^[2][9] while the American Heritage Dictionary takes it to be of Phoenician origin.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A deciding according to one's own will or pleasure; an absolute decision: about 1386, in Chaucer's Tale of Melibee.^[4] Etymonline gives the late 14th-century sense as the faculty of choosing or deciding, judgement or discretion.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the early 15th century the word came to mean the authority to decide a dispute,^[2] and the old sense of free or absolute decision lasted until the mid-17th century.^[4][6] The modern sense, the settlement of a dispute by someone both parties agree to refer it to, is dated to the 1630s by Etymonline and to before 1661 by the OED;^[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined it in just these terms.^[11] From 1768, in Blackstone, the word was used attributively (arbitration bond),^[4] and since 1811 arbitration of exchange was the working out of the best rate between two currencies through other markets.^[4][6] In the modern sense the referee may be chosen by the parties or appointed by law, instead of a court,^[3] and the word is used especially of industrial disputes and of the settlement of disputes between nations.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1386 – an absolute decision according to one's will (obsolete by 1651).^[4]
• early 15th century – authority to decide a dispute.^[2]
• 1630s – settlement of a dispute by an agreed third party.^[2]
• 1768 – attributive use, as in arbitration bond.^[4]
• 1811 – arbitration of exchange, in currency dealing.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (law) The hearing and settling of a dispute by an impartial referee whom the parties choose or agree to, instead of by a court, especially in an industrial dispute: The two unions agreed to go to arbitration.
2. (international law) The procedure for settling disputes between nations.
3. The act of arbitrating.
4. arbitration of exchange: the working out of the most favourable rate of exchange between two currencies through one or more other markets.

Word family

• arbitrational
• arbitrationist
• rearbitration

Related words

• arbiter
• arbitrable
• arbitrage
• arbitrary
• arbitrate
• arbitrator
• arbitrament

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes arbitration from mediation.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins