LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

arbiter

arbiter m (genitive arbitrī, feminine arbitra)
Classical[ˈar.bɪ.tɛr]Ecclesiastical[ˈar.bi.ter]

Meaning

  1. masculinewitness, spectator, onlooker
  2. masculinearbitrator, arbiter (having a wider power than a iūdex)
  3. masculinejudge, umpire, arbitrator, arbiter
    pācis et armōrum superīs īmīsque deōrum arbiter, ālātō quī pede carpis iter In peace and war, [you] arbiter of the gods – for [those both] above and below – you who navigate the journey with winged foot, ….(The poet is addressing Mercury (mythology).)8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 5.665–666
  4. masculineoverseer, controller, ruler

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativearbiterarbitrī
genitivearbitrīarbitrōrum
dativearbitrōarbitrīs
accusativearbitrumarbitrōs
ablativearbitrōarbitrīs
vocativearbiterarbitrī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

remotis arbitris or secreto
in private; tête-à-tête.

arbĭter, tri, m. ar = ad (v. ad init.) and bito = eo, orig.,
I. one that goes to something in order to see or hear it; hence, a spectator, beholder, hearer, an eye-witness, a witness (class. through all periods; used several times by Plaut., but only twice by Ter.; syn.: testis, speculator, conscius).
I. In gen.: aequi et justi hic eritis omnes arbitri, Plaut. Am. prol. 16: mi quidem jam arbitri vicini sunt, meae quid fiat domi, Ita per impluvium introspectant, id. Mil. 2, 2, 3: ne arbitri dicta nostra arbitrari (i. e. speculari, v. arbitror) queant, id. Capt. 2, 1, 28; so id. ib. 2, 1, 34; id. Cas. 1, 1, 2; 1, 1, 55; id. Mil. 4, 4, 1; id. Merc. 5, 4, 46; id. Poen. 1, 1, 50; 3, 3, 50; id. Trin. 1, 2, 109: aut desine aut cedo quemvis arbitrum, Ter. Ad. 1, 2, 43: quis est decisionis arbiter? Cic. Fl. 36: ab arbitris remoto loco, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 31: remotis arbitris, after the removal of, id. Off. 3, 31, 112: omnibus arbitris procul amotis, Sall. C. 20, 1 Corte: arbitros eicit, Liv. 1, 41: remotis arbitris, id. 2, 4: sine arbitro, id. 27, 28: absque arbitris, Vulg. Gen. 39, 11: loca abdita et ab arbitris libera, Cic. Att. 15, 16 B; Just. 21, 4: secretorum omnium arbiter, i. e. conscius, Curt. 3, 12, 9: procul est, ait, arbiter omnis, Ov. M. 2, 458 (cf. id. ib. 4, 63: conscius omnis abest).—
II. Esp.
A. In judic. lang., t. t., prop., he that is appointed to inquire into a cause (cf. adire hiberna, Tac. H. 1, 52, and intervenio) and settle it; hence, an umpire, arbiter, a judge, in an actio bonae fidei (i. e. who decides acc. to equity, while the judex decides acc. to laws), Sen. Ben. 3, 7 (cf. Zimmern, Rechtsgesch. 3 B, § 8; 3 B, § 42; 3 B, § 60 sq., and the jurists there cited).— So in the fragments of the Twelve Tables: JVDICI. ARBITROVE. REOVE. DIES. DIFFISVS. ESTO., ap. Paul. ex Fest. s. v. reus, p. 227 Müll.: PraeTOR. ARBITROS. TRES. DATO. ap. Fest. s. v. vindiciae, p. 376 Müll., and the ancient judicial formula: P. J. A. V. P. V. D., i. e. PRAETOREM JVDICEM ARBITRVMVE POSTVLO VTI DET, Val. Prob. p. 1539 P.: ibo ad arbitrum, Plaut. Rud. 4, 3, 101; so id. ib. 4, 3, 104: Vicini nostri hic ambigunt de finibus: Me cepere arbitrum, Ter. Heaut. 3, 1, 90 (arbiter dabatur his, qui de finibus regendis ambigerent, Don.); so, arbiter Nolanis de finibus a senatu datus, Cic. Off. 1, 10, 33.—Of the Hebrew judges: subjacebit damno, quantum arbitri judicaverint, Vulg. Exod. 21, 22.—Hence, trop.: Taurus immensus ipse et innumerarum gentium arbiter, that sets boundaries to numerous tribes, Plin. 5, 27, 27, § 97: arbitrum familiae herciscundae postulavit, Cic. Caecin. 7: arbitrum illum adegit (i. e. ad arbitrum illum egit; cf. adigo), id. Off. 3, 16, 66: quis in hanc rem fuit arbiter? id. Rosc. Com. 4, 12.—In the time of Cicero, when, acc. to the Lex Aebutia, the decisions were given in definite formulae of the praetor, the formal distinction between judex and arbiter disappeared, Cic. Mur. 12 fin.—
B. Transf. from the sphere of judicial proceedings, a judge, an arbitrator, umpire, in gen.: arbiter inter antiquam Academiam et Zenonem. Cic. Leg. 1, 20, 53: Judicet Dominus, arbiter hujus diei, inter etc., Vulg. Jud. 11, 27.—So of Paris: arbiter formae, Ov. H. 16, 69: pugnae, the judge, umpire of the contest, ὁ βραβευτής, Hor. C. 3, 20, 11: favor arbiter coronae, which adjudged the prize of victory, Mart. 7, 72, 10.—
C. He that rules over, governs, or manages something, a lord, ruler, master (mostly poet. or in post-Aug. prose; syn.: rex, dominus): arbiter imperii (Augustus), Ov. Tr. 5, 2, 47: armorum (Mars), id. F. 3, 73: bibendi, Hor. C. 2, 7, 25 (cf. id. ib. 1, 4, 18: nec regna vini sortiere talis, and in Gr. βασιλεὺς τοῦ συμποσίου): quo (sc. Noto) non arbiter Hadriae Major, who rules over the sea, id. ib. 1, 3, 15: arbiter Eurystheus irae Junonis iniquae, i. e. the executor, fulfiller of her wrath, Ov. H. 9, 45 al.—In prose, Tac. A. 1, 26: regni, id. ib. 13, 14, where Halm reads arbitrium: rerum, id. ib. 2, 73: di potentium populorum arbitri, id. ib. 15, 24: (JOVI) RERVM RECTORI FATORVMQVE ARBITRO, Inscr. Orell. 1269 et saep.

Origins

Uncertain, but probably cognate to Umbrian 𐌀𐌛𐌐𐌖𐌕𐌓𐌀𐌕𐌉 (ařputrati, “according to the judgement”, abl.sg.), corresponding to Latin arbitrātū. Possibly from ad- + baetō, with sporadic d > r as in arvorsum, arfuise, thus originally meaning "one that goes to something in order to see or hear it". However, that verb has no certain etymology, and the Umbrian pu remains unexplained. De Vaan suggests a derivation from putō to explain the Umbrian pu, however that is still morphologically difficult since the latter is based on an adjective. The voiced b would have to be exceptional or explained by some peculiarity of the řp sequence in Umbrian.

Descendants
  • Portugueseálvidro
  • Catalanàrbitre
  • Englisharbiter
  • Frencharbitre
  • Italianarbitro
  • Portugueseárbitro
  • Romanianarbitru
  • Spanishárbitro
  • Georgianარბიტრიfrom French arbitre
  • Sicilianàrbitru

Quick answers

What does arbiter mean in Latin?
arbiter, a noun, means “witness, spectator, onlooker; arbitrator, arbiter (having a wider power than a iūdex); judge, umpire, arbitrator, arbiter”.
What is the genitive of arbiter?
The genitive singular is arbitrī. arbiter is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce arbiter?
In classical Latin, [ˈar.bɪ.tɛr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈar.bi.ter].