umpire English · revision 211

5 Oct 2026, 22:17 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, word family, related words; definitions under Modern meaning” current version
← Previous edit
Changes in this edit

@@ -1,18 +1,36 @@
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈʌm.paɪə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''; /ˈʌm.paɪɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+ 
  ==Etymology==
− From [[enm|noumpere|t=arbitrator, mediator]] (mid-14th century),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) [[bor|fro|nonper|t=odd number, not even]],^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) from ''non'' “not” + ''per'' “equal”,^(Etymonline)^(AHD) [[der|la|pār|t=equal]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The idea is of an odd third person who arbitrates between two.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)
+ From [[enm|noumpere|t=arbitrator, mediator]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) [[bor|fro|nonper|t=odd number, not even]],^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) from ''non'' “not” + ''per'' “equal”,^(Etymonline)^(AHD) [[der|la|pār|t=equal]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The idea is of an odd third person who arbitrates between two.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) By about 1400 the initial ''n-'' began to be lost, as ''a noumpere'' was heard as ''an oumpere'',^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) the same change as in [[adder]] and [[apron]].^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)
  
− By about 1400 the initial ''n-'' began to be lost, as ''a noumpere'' was heard as ''an oumpere'',^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) the same change as in [[adder]] and [[apron]].^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) The word was originally legal; its sporting use is recorded by 1714, in wrestling.^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ An arbitrator or mediator, one who decides when others do not agree (mid-14th century, as ''noumper'').^(Etymonline)^(AHD)
  
− ==Noun==
− '''umpire'''
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The American Heritage Dictionary traces the loss of the ''n-'' in the Middle English record: ''a noounpier'' in 1426–27, but ''an Oumper'' around 1475.^(AHD) Copies of ''Piers Plowman'' have the word in the same place as ''a noumpere'', ''nounpere'', ''vmper'', and ''ompere''.^(Etymonline) The word was originally legal;^(Etymonline) its sporting use is recorded by 1714, in wrestling.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb meant “to appoint as umpire” in the 1590s, a sense now obsolete, and “to settle a dispute” from the 1610s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
  
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1350 – ''noumper'', “arbitrator”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1464 – in law, a third person deciding between disagreeing arbitrators.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1592 – verb, “to appoint as umpire”, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1714 – in games and contests.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1861 – verb, “to supervise a game as umpire”.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
  # An official who enforces the rules and decides on plays in a sport, especially baseball.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
  # A person chosen to settle a dispute between parties; an arbitrator.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
  # ''(law)'' A third person called in to decide when arbitrators cannot agree.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)
  
− ==Verb==
− '''umpire'''
+ ===Verb===
+ # To act as umpire in a game, or to settle a dispute as umpire.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
  
− # To act as umpire in a game, or to settle a dispute as umpire.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[umpirage]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[nonpareil]]
+ * [[referee]]
  
  ==References==