[a. F. arbitrage, f. arbitrer: see ARBITRE v. and -AGE.]
1. Exercise of the functions of an arbitrator; decision by arbitration; the process of arbitration. arch.
1480. Caxton, Ovid’s Met., XI. ii. Parys sayd, I shall thynke and trewly determyne this arbytrage.
1682. Luttrell, Brief Rel., I. 172. He will referr the differences between him and the King of Spain to the arbitrage of the King of England.
1839. G. P. R. James, Louis XIV., III. 364. Commissioners acting under the arbitrage of the Queen of Spain.
2. Exercise of individual judgment, authoritative decision or determination. arch.
1601. Fulbecke, 1st Pt. Parallel, 39. Respite must bee giuen by the arbitrage of the Iudge.
1691. T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 92. Not by the arbitrage of private Patentees … but by the Public Conservators.
1818. Bentham, Ch. Eng., 212. According to the arbitrage of the same ever excellent Judge.
3. Comm. The traffic in Bills of Exchange drawn on sundry places, and bought or sold in sight of the daily quotations of rates in the several markets, each operation being based in theory on the calculation known as ARBITRATION of Exchange, q.v. Also, the similar traffic in Stocks, so as to take advantage of the difference of price at which the same stock may be quoted at the same time in the exchange markets of distant places. [In this sense adopted from mod.F., and usually pronounced (arbita·ʓ).]
1881. Daily News, 27 April, 6. Foreign arbitrage brokers.
1882. Pall Mall Gaz., 24 June, 1. He cannot … tell what the outcome of the unfathomable arbitrage business will be.
