Etymologically
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arbitrarius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ar.bɪˈtraː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ar.biˈtraː.ri.us][1]

Forms

arbitrārius (feminine arbitrāria, neuter arbitrārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin arbiter (“judge, arbitrator”) + -ārius.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is the first to use it, playing on the legal contrast between a fixed claim and one left to an arbitrator's estimate: hoc quidem profectō certum est, nōn est arbitrārium, “this much is certain, not a matter of opinion”.[2][4][5] He also has the adverb arbitrāriō in the same sense.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Roman law it described what depends on the discretion of an arbitrator or judge: the jurist Gaius speaks of a formula “that is called arbitrāria”, and Ulpian of the āctiō arbitrāria.[2][4][3] Gellius uses it of what depends on choice or will, as opposed to what is natural: words are natural rather than arbitrāria,[2] and the beat of the pulse is natural, not voluntary.[4][6]

Medieval documents use it of an arbitrator's ruling[7][8] and of what is left to someone's will: voluntary masses, penances imposed at a bishop's discretion, delays fixed at the judges' pleasure.[7][8] Niermeyer glosses it as arbitrary,[9] the sense in which English took it about 1400.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus contrasts what is certain with what is arbitrārium.[2][5]
  • 140–180 AD – Gaius describes the formula arbitrāria of the civil procedure.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of things that depend on choice.[2][5]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian writes of the āctiō arbitrāria.[4][3][5]
  • c. 1215 – A Zurich charter speaks of an arbitrator's sentence.[7]
  • c. 1400 – English borrows it as arbitrary.[10]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to an arbitrator, or depending on his discretion.[2][4]
  2. Not fixed, uncertain.[2][4]
  3. Depending on choice; arbitrary, voluntary.[2][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Imposed at someone's discretion.[8][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com