arbitrage

ar·bi·trage
A1R1B3I1T1R1A1G2E1
US/ˈɑɹbɪˌtɹɑʒ/US/ˈɑɹbɪtɹɪd͡ʒ/

noun

A market activity in which a security, commodity, currency or other tradable item is bought in one market and sold simultaneously in another, in order to profit from price differences between the markets.

Less commonScrabble 12

Meanings

nounarbitrage (countable and uncountable, plural arbitrages)

plural arbitrages

  1. countableuncountablebusinessA market activity in which a security, commodity, currency or other tradable item is bought in one market and sold simultaneously in another, in order to profit from price differences between the markets.

    But in recent years, for reasons we shall develop later, the field of "arbitrages and workouts" became riskier and less profitable.

    a. 1973, Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor, HarperCollins, published 2003, page 174
  2. archaiccountableuncountableArbitration.
verbarbitrage (third-person singular simple present arbitrages, present participle arbitraging, simple past and past participle arbitraged)

present singular third person arbitrages · participle present arbitraging · participle past arbitraged · past arbitraged

  1. intransitivebusinessTo employ arbitrage

    He has arbitraged by purchasing in one market and simultaneously selling the same or similar merchandise in another market.

    1961, Maurece Schiller, Fortunes in Special Situations in the Stock Market, page iv
  2. transitivebusinessTo engage in arbitrage in, between, or among

    Indeed, as banks become more adept at internal risk classifications, their incentives to arbitrage economic and regulatory capital can only increase

    2001, Frederic S. Mishkin, Prudential Supervision: What Works and what Doesn't, page 98

Origin

  1. Frencharbitrage
  2. Englisharbitrage

An unadapted borrowing from French arbitrage, from arbitrer (“to arbitrate”); see arbitrate.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 套利
  • 套利 (tàolì)market activity
Czech arbitráž
  • arbitrážmarket activity
Finnish arbitraasi
  • arbitraasimarket activity
French arbitrage
  • arbitragemarket activity
Irish arbatráiste
  • arbatráistemarket activity
Japanese 鞘取り
  • 鞘取り (sayatori)market activity
Polish arbitraż, rozjemstwo
  • arbitrażmarket activity
  • rozjemstwomarket activity
Portuguese arbitragem
  • arbitragemmarket activity
Spanish arbitraje de valores mercantiles, compraventa entre mercados
  • arbitraje de valores mercantilesmarket activity
  • compraventa entre mercadosmarket activity

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with arbitrage

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

arbitrage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arbitrage

MLA

“arbitrage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arbitrage. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arbitrage,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arbitrage.

Source: arbitrage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.