arbiter

a person empowered to judge or make determinations: She will act as arbiter in the dispute.

Not to be confused with:

orbiter – a space probe designed to orbit a planetary body: The orbiter will land shortly.

ar·bi·ter

(är′bĭ-tər)

1. One agreed upon or appointed to judge or decide a disputed issue; an arbitrator.

2. One whose opinion or judgment is considered authoritative or worthy of respect: an arbiter of fashion.

[Middle English arbitre, from Old French, from Latin arbiter, of Phoenician origin; see ʕrb in Semitic roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

arbiter

(ˈɑːbɪtə)

1. (Law) a person empowered to judge in a dispute; referee; arbitrator

2. a person having complete control of something

[C15: from Latin, of obscure origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ar•bi•ter

(ˈɑr bɪ tər)

n.

1. a person empowered to decide matters at issue; judge; umpire.

2. a person or group having the sole or absolute power of judging or determining.

[1350–1400; Middle English arbitour, arbitre < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin arbiter]

arbiter

- Latin for "judge, supreme ruler."

arbiter

one chosen to settle a controversy; an umpire or arbitrator.

arbiter

noun

1. judge, referee, umpire, arbitrator, adjudicator the court's role as arbiter in the law-making process

2. authority, expert, master, governor, ruler, dictator, controller, lord, pundit Sequins have often aroused the scorn of arbiters of taste.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

arbiter

noun

A person, usually appointed, who decides the issues or results, or supervises the conduct, of a competition or conflict:

arbitrator, judge, referee, umpire.

Sports: ref, ump.

Translations

арбитър

árbitro

sovittelijavälittäjä

arbitre

arbitro

арбитр

arbiter

[ˈɑːbɪtəʳ] N

1. (= adjudicator) → árbitro/a m/f

2. (fig) to be an arbiter of taste/style → ser un árbitro del buen gusto/de la moda

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

arbiter

[ˈɑː^rbɪtə^r] n → arbitre m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

arbiter

(of fate etc) → Herr(in) m(f), → Gebieter(in) m(f) (→ of über +acc); to be the arbiter of → Herr(in) sein über (+acc); they were the arbiters of good taste/style → sie waren die Päpste des guten Geschmacks/Stils

= arbitrator

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

arbiter

[ˈɑːbɪtəʳ] n (frm) → arbitro

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and pronounced judgment: The first quarter is for me in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare to lay a paw upon it."

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Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

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In peace, from their want of confidence in each other, they will entrust the guardianship of the state to mercenaries and their general, who will be an arbiter between them, and sometimes become master of both, which happened at Larissa, when Simos and the Aleuadae had the chief power.

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The end of the day is the time to gaze at the kingly face of the Westerly Weather, who is the arbiter of ships' destinies.

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He is at some obvious pains to "punish vice and reward virtue," but I do not mean that easy morality when I praise his; I mean the more difficult sort that recognizes in each man's soul the arbiter not of his fate surely, but surely of his peace.

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To reason from the past to the future, we shall have good ground to apprehend, that the sword would sometimes be appealed to as the arbiter of their differences.

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And as if it were not enough to have aggrandized the Church, and deprived himself of friends, he, wishing to have the kingdom of Naples, divides it with the King of Spain, and where he was the prime arbiter in Italy he takes an associate, so that the ambitious of that country and the malcontents of his own should have somewhere to shelter; and whereas he could have left in the kingdom his own pensioner as king, he drove him out, to put one there who was able to drive him, Louis, out in turn.

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Our cavaliers now arrived at that temple, where Heydegger, the great Arbiter Deliciarum, the great high-priest of pleasure, presides; and, like other heathen priests, imposes on his votaries by the pretended presence of the deity, when in reality no such deity is there.

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To a disposition like Holgrave's, at once speculative and active, there is no temptation so great as the opportunity of acquiring empire over the human spirit; nor any idea more seductive to a young man than to become the arbiter of a young girl's destiny.

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In 1809 the intimacy between "the world's two arbiters," as Napoleon and Alexander were called, was such that when Napoleon declared war on Austria a Russian corps crossed the frontier to co-operate with our old enemy Bonaparte against our old ally the Emperor of Austria, and in court circles the possibility of marriage between Napoleon and one of Alexander's sisters was spoken of.

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I looked upon them as superior beings who would be the arbiters of my future destiny.

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They were the arbiters of fashion, the Court of last Appeal, and they knew it, and bowed to their fate.

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Noun	1.	arbiter - someone with the power to settle matters at will; "she was the final arbiter on all matters of fashion" supreme authority expert - a person with special knowledge or ability who performs skillfully
	2.	arbiter - someone chosen to judge and decide a disputed issue; "the critic was considered to be an arbiter of modern literature"; "the arbitrator's authority derived from the consent of the disputants"; "an umpire was appointed to settle the tax case" arbitrator, umpire evaluator, judge - an authority who is able to estimate worth or quality third party - someone other than the principals who are involved in a transaction