Meanings
umpire1
nounumpire (plural umpires)
plural umpires
- An official who presides over a sports match.
And you, O King, and you, O Goldry Bluszco, are likewise bound by oath to wrastle fairly and to abide by the ruling of me, the Red Foliot, whom ye are content to choose as your umpire.
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 20- American footballThe official who stands behind the line on the defensive side or next to the referee on the offensive side.
The umpire must keep on his toes as the play often occurs around him.
- Australian rules footballA match official on the ground deciding and enforcing the rules during play. There may be up to four umpires depending on the league. The other officials, the goal umpires and boundary umpires, are usually referred to by those phrases.
- lawA person who arbitrates between contending parties.
You for their umpire and their ſynod take, / And their appeal alone to Cæſar make.
a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “To His Sacred Majesty. A Panegyric on his Coronation.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume I, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 34
verbumpire (third-person singular simple present umpires, present participle umpiring, simple past and past participle umpired)
present singular third person umpires · participle present umpiring · participle past umpired · past umpired
- intransitivehobbiesTo act as an umpire in a game.
Umpire2
proper noun
- An unincorporated community in Howard County, Arkansas, United States, named for the umpire of a baseball game.
Synonyms: Busby
- An unincorporated community in Wright County, Missouri, United States. Origin of the name unknown.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounAn unincorporated community in Howard County, Arkansas, United States, named for the umpire of a baseball game.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounsomeone chosen to judge and decide a disputed issue
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpar“equal”
- Old Frenchnonper“odd number, not even (as a tie-breaking arbitrator)”
- Englishumpire
From a Middle English rebracketing of a noumper as an oumper, from Old French nonper (“odd number, not even (as a tie-breaking arbitrator)”), from non (“not”) + per (“equal”), from Latin par (“equal”).
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek διαιτητής, βραβευτής
- διαιτητής (diaitētḗs)a person who arbitrates between contending parties
- βραβευτής (brabeutḗs)an official who oversees a game or match
Arabic حكم
- حكمto act as an umpire in a game
Bulgarian посредник, арбитър
- посредник (posrednik)a person who arbitrates between contending parties
- арбитър (arbităr)a person who arbitrates between contending parties
- съдия (sădija)an official who oversees a game or match
- свиря (svirja)to act as an umpire in a game
Catalan àrbitre, àrbitre
- àrbitrea person who arbitrates between contending parties
- àrbitrean official who oversees a game or match
Czech rozhodčí, arbitr
- rozhodčía person who arbitrates between contending parties
- arbitra person who arbitrates between contending parties
- rozhodčían official who oversees a game or match
Danish dommer
- dommeran official who oversees a game or match
Dutch scheidsrechter, als scheidsrechter m beslissen
- scheidsrechteran official who oversees a game or match
- als scheidsrechter m beslissento act as an umpire in a game
Esperanto arbitraciisto, ludjuĝisto
- arbitraciistoan official who oversees a game or match
- ludjuĝistoan official who oversees a game or match
Finnish sovittelija, välimies
- sovittelijaa person who arbitrates between contending parties
- välimiesa person who arbitrates between contending parties
- erotuomarian official who oversees a game or match
- erotuomaroidato act as an umpire in a game
- tuomaroidato act as an umpire in a game
French arbitre, arbitre
- arbitrea person who arbitrates between contending parties
- arbitrean official who oversees a game or match
- arbitrerto act as an umpire in a game
German Schlichter, Schiedsrichter
- Schlichtera person who arbitrates between contending parties
- Schiedsrichtera person who arbitrates between contending parties
- Obmanna person who arbitrates between contending parties
- Schiedsrichteran official who oversees a game or match
- Schirian official who oversees a game or match
- Unparteiischeran official who oversees a game or match
- schiedsrichternto act as an umpire in a game
Greek διαιτητής
- διαιτητής (diaititís)an official who oversees a game or match
Irish maor
- maoran official who oversees a game or match
Italian arbitro, superarbitro
- arbitroa person who arbitrates between contending parties
- superarbitroan official who oversees a game or match
- arbitroto act as an umpire in a game
Japanese 審判, 審判員 アンパイヤ
- 審判 (shinpan)to act as an umpire in a game
- 審判員 アンパイヤ (shinpan'in)to act as an umpire in a game
Korean 심판원
- 심판원 (simpanwon)an official who oversees a game or match
Māori amapaea, kaiwawao
- amapaeaa person who arbitrates between contending parties
- kaiwawaoa person who arbitrates between contending parties
- amapaeaan official who oversees a game or match
- kaiwawaoan official who oversees a game or match
- amapaeato act as an umpire in a game
Norwegian Bokmål dommer
- dommeran official who oversees a game or match
Persian داور
- داور (dâvar)an official who oversees a game or match
Portuguese árbitro, árbitro
- árbitroa person who arbitrates between contending parties
- árbitroan official who oversees a game or match
- arbitrarto act as an umpire in a game
Romanian arbitru, arbitru
- arbitrua person who arbitrates between contending parties
- arbitruan official who oversees a game or match
- arbitrato act as an umpire in a game
Russian суди́ть
- суди́ть (sudítʹ)to act as an umpire in a game
Spanish árbitro, ampáyer
- árbitroan official who oversees a game or match
- ampáyeran official who oversees a game or match
- ompáyeran official who oversees a game or match
- umpirean official who oversees a game or match
- ampayaan official who oversees a game or match
- arbitrarto act as an umpire in a game
- ampayarto act as an umpire in a game
Swedish domare
- domarean official who oversees a game or match
Turkish başkan, hakem
- başkana person who arbitrates between contending parties
- hakema person who arbitrates between contending parties
- hakeman official who oversees a game or match
- hakemlik yapmakto act as an umpire in a game
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with umpire
firehigherpriorentirerequirebuyerhirewiresupplierempiredesiretireacquireinquireflyerdryerchoirinspireretireexpireshireaspiredireadmire
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
umpire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/umpire
MLA
“umpire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/umpire. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “umpire,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/umpire.
Source: umpire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.