Etymology

arbiter

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Today it means: A person appointed, or chosen, by parties to determine a controversy between them; an arbitrator. Full definition →

Middle English arbiter ← Old French arbitre ← Latin arbiter
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromarbiter“a witness, judge, literally one who goes to see”
  2. Old French · derived fromarbitre
  3. Middle English · inherited fromarbiter
  4. English todayarbiter

From Middle English arbiter, arbytour, arbitre, from Old French arbitre, from Latin arbiter (“a witness, judge, literally one who goes to see”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.