Etymology

ombudsman

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Today it means: An appointed official whose duty is to investigate complaints, generally on behalf of individuals such as consumers or taxpayers, against institutions such as companies and government departments. Full definition →

Swedish ombudsman ← Old Norse umboðsmaðr
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The story

  1. Old Norse · derived fromumboðsmaðr
  2. Swedish · borrowed fromombudsman
  3. English todayombudsman

Borrowed from Swedish ombudsman (equivalent to ombud (“representative, proxy”) + man), from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.