Word Origin & History
arbiter
1502, from L. arbiter "one who goes somewhere (as witness or judge)," from ad- "to" + baetere "to come, go." The spec. sense of "one chosen by two disputing parties to decide the matter" is from 1549. Arbitration in this sense is from 1634 (see also arbitrate). The earliest form of the word attested in Eng. is the fem. noun arbitress (1340) "a woman who settles disputes."