umpire

Etymology

From Middle English noumpere (“arbitrator, mediator”) (mid-14th century),^[1][2] borrowed from Old French nonper (“odd number, not even”),^[1][3] from non “not” + per “equal”,^[1][4] from Latin pār (“equal”).^[4][5] The idea is of an odd third person who arbitrates between two.^[1][3]

By about 1400 the initial n- began to be lost, as a noumpere was heard as an oumpere,^[1][5][2] the same change as in adder and apron.^[2][6] The word was originally legal; its sporting use is recorded by 1714, in wrestling.^[1]

Noun

umpire

1. An official who enforces the rules and decides on plays in a sport, especially baseball.^[4][5][6][3]
2. A person chosen to settle a dispute between parties; an arbitrator.^[4][2][6][3]
3. (law) A third person called in to decide when arbitrators cannot agree.^[5][2]

Verb

umpire

1. To act as umpire in a game, or to settle a dispute as umpire.^[4][5][6][3]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House