Also 6–7 -or, -our. [a. L. arbiter (? f. ar- = ad- to + bētĕre, bītĕre, to go, ‘one who goes to see,’ hence, who looks into or examines) a judge in equity, a supreme ruler. Cf. ARBITRATOR, ARBITRER. Arbiter was the orig. L. word, still extant in F. as arbitre; arbitrātor was a later L. n. of agent from arbitrāri to act as arbiter; of this the OF. descendant was arbitreor, -our, by the side of which arbitrateur, -our, was also adopted as a technical term by the jurists. In Eng., arbitrour seems to have been the earliest, then arbitratour, and in 16th c. arbiter from L., though arbitre may well have existed in ME. (The 16th-c. spelling arbitour, -or, was, as in ancestor, merely imitative of words properly in -our.)]
1. gen. One whose opinion or decision is authoritative in a matter of debate; a judge.
1502. Arnold, Chron. (1811), 160. Abdalazys … most iust arbiter and juge of trouth.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 151. As a deputed judge or arbiter delegat to determin of mans health, and the preseruation thereof.
1790. Cowper, Odyss., VIII. 314. Nine arbiters appointed to intend The whole arrangement of the public games.
1824. Dibdin, Libr. Comp., 520. The late Mr. Fox (no mean arbiter in literary taste).
2. spec. One who is chosen by the two parties in a dispute to arrange or decide the difference between them; an arbitrator, an umpire (See note to ARBITRATOR 1.)
1549. Hooper, Ten Commandm., x. Wks. 1843–52, 348. To solicitate the same by honest arbiters and godly friends.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., 20. Ane Judge haueand ane ordinar jurisdiction, may nocht be ane Arbitour.
1754. Erskine, Princ. Sc. Law (1809), 492. The power of arbiters is wholly derived from the consent of parties.
1852. Gladstone, Gleanings, IV. xiv. 150. Beyond the Atlantic … things civil and things spiritual move in their separate spheres, without any need for an arbiter between them.
1873. Dixon, Two Queens, I. IV. i. 179. Appointed arbiter of the dispute.
b. transf. or fig.
c. 1568. Coverdale, Hope of Faithf., xii. (1574), 83. Christ … the arbiter and mediator betwene God and men.
1580. Sidney, Arcadia. The sun [at the equinox] … indifferent arbiter between the night and the day.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 50. Twilight … short Arbiter ’Twixt Day and Night.
3. One who has power to decide or ordain according to his own absolute pleasure; one who has a matter under his sole control. Also fig.
1628. Le Grys, trans. Barclay’s Argenis, 286. Thou sittest as it were the arbiter of the fortune of thy neighbour Kings.
1652. Needham, Selden’s Mare Cl., 19. Absolute Lord or Arbiter of the whole world.
1785. Reid, Int. Powers, I. i. § 11. Use … which is the arbiter of language.
1814. Byron, To Napoleon. The arbiter of others’ fate, A suppliant for his own.
1874. Motley, Barneveld, I. i. 61. The proud … position of arbiter of Europe.
