Word Confusion: Arbiter versus Arbitrator

Posted December 2, 2021 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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Arbiter versus arbitrator (both are nouns) are fairly similar as both are people who make decisions to settle a problem.

The difference is that an arbiter is a person who has the legal authority to decide disputes and are based on the rules of law and equity. An arbiter can decide disputes outside and inside of arbitration. When inside, the arbiter is sometimes referred to as an arbitrator.

An arbitrator is not required to follow substantive law when making their decisions, but is able to use their own discretion to come up with a decision according to the judgment of a reasonable person. Arbitrators are restricted to deciding disputes that arise in the form of arbitration.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

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Arbiter	Arbitrator
The Stand Pat Arbiter, 10 Dec 1909, from the Berryman Political Cartoon Collection courtesy of The U.S. National Archives has no known copyright restrictions, via Picryl.	Arbitration by Mary1826 is under the Pixabay License, via Pixabay.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: arbiters The feminine: arbitress	Noun Plural: arbitrators
A person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter A person whose views or actions have great influence over trends in social behavior Judge Umpire	An independent person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute A form of alternative dispute resolution that is a way to resolve disputes outside the judiciary courts
Examples:
The military acted as arbiter of conflicts between political groups. There are people on Tik Tok and Instagram who are arbiters of taste. The government will be the final arbiter in the dispute. This was sent to David Garrick, an influential arbiter of polite literary taste in London.	The facts of the case were put to an independent arbitrator. I do like George, Lord Camarine, in Ilona Andrews’ The Edge in which he is a core character, and then he shows up in The Innkeeper Chronicles as an Arbitrator. He is calling for the appointment of an independent arbitrator to nip the dispute in the bud. He defended the role of his reader’s editor, who acts as an independent arbitrator of reader complaints.
Derivatives:
Noun: superarbiter	Adjective: arbitrary Adverb: arbitrarily Noun: arbitration, arbitrer (obsolete) Verb: arbitrate
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the Latin judge, supreme ruler.	Late Middle English, 1400–50, arbitratour from the Late Latin; see arbitrate + -tor.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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