arbiter

Forms

arbiter m (genitive arbitrī, feminine arbitra); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably formed from ad- (“to”) and the verb baetō (“to go”), also spelled ⟨bītō⟩: “one who goes to see or hear”.^[2][3][1][4] De Vaan notes the matching Umbrian ařputrati (“by the judgement”), which answers to Latin ⟨arbitrātū⟩, and explains ⟨ar-⟩ from ⟨ad⟩ by a sporadic change before labials.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Twelve Tables already use it beside ⟨iūdex⟩: iūdicī arbitrōve.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

Its oldest sense is an eyewitness or onlooker, as in Plautus.^[2][3] In law it is an arbitrator chosen to settle a dispute, with wider discretion than a iūdex, and in general a judge or umpire: Plautus asks the audience to be fair judges of his play.^[2][1] It is also an overseer, master or ruler, and Livy uses it of the agent who brings about concord among citizens.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “judge, arbitrator, umpire, witness”.^[6] English arbiter (late 14th century) comes from it, partly through Old French.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables of an arbitrator.^[2][5][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of an onlooker and of judges of a play.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of an agent of concord.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English arbiter.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An eyewitness, onlooker, spectator.^[2][1][6]
2. (law) An arbitrator.^[2][1][6]
3. A judge, umpire.^[2][1][6]
4. An overseer, master, ruler; an agent.^[2][1]

Word family

• arbitra
• arbitrālis
• arbitrārius
• arbitrium

Related words

• arbitrātus
• arbitror
• ad
• baetō
• English arbiter

Usage notes

Arbiter was also the cognomen of the writer Petronius.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com