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ombudsman - 4 dictionary results
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om⋅buds⋅man

  [om-buhdz-muhn, -man, -boodz-, awm-, om-boodz-muhn, -man, awm-]
Use ombudsman in a Sentence
–noun, plural -men  [-muhn, -men] .
1. a government official who hears and investigates complaints by private citizens against other officials or government agencies.
2. a person who investigates and attempts to resolve complaints and problems, as between employees and an employer or between students and a university.
Origin:
1910–15; < Sw: legal representative, equiv. to ombud agent, attorney + -s ’s 1 + -man -man

Usage note:
See -man.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ombudsman
om·buds·man   (ŏm'bŭdz'mən, -bədz-, -bŏŏdz'-)   
n.  
  1. A man who investigates complaints and mediates fair settlements, especially between aggrieved parties such as consumers or students and an institution or organization.
  2. A government official, especially in Scandinavian countries, who investigates citizens' complaints against the government or its functionaries.

[Swedish, from Old Norse umbodhsmadhr, deputy, plenipotentiary : umbodh, commission (um, about; see ambhi in Indo-European roots + bodh, command; see bheudh- in Indo-European roots) + madhr, man; see man-1 in Indo-European roots.]
om'buds'man·ship' n.
Word History: The word ombudsman has one familiar element, man, but it is difficult to think of what ombuds could mean. Ombudsman is from Swedish, a Germanic language in the same family as English, and man in Swedish corresponds to our word man. Ombud means "commissioner, agent," coming from Old Norse umbodh, "charge, commission, administration by a delegacy," umbodh being made up of um, "regarding," and bodh, "command." In Old Norse an umbodhsmadhr was a "trusty manager, commissary." In Swedish an ombudsman was a deputy who looked after the interests and legal affairs of a group such as a trade union or business. In 1809 the office of riksdagens justitieombudsman was created to act as an agent of justice, that is, to see after the interests of justice in affairs between the government and its citizens. This office of ombudsman and the word ombudsman have been adopted elsewhere, as in individual states in the United States. The term has also been expanded in sense to include people who perform the same function for business corporations or newspapers.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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ombudsman [(om-buhdz-muhn, om-boodz-muhn)]

An official appointed by a government or other organization to investigate complaints against people in authority. This position is designed to give those with less power — the “little people” — a voice in the operation of large organizations.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Language Translation for : ombudsman
Spanish: defensor del pueblo,
German: der Ombudsmann,
Japanese: 行政監察官
More Translations »

ombudsman 
1959, from Swed. ombudsman, lit. "commission man" (specifically, in ref. to the office of justitieombudsmannen, which hears and investigates complaints by individuals against abuses of the state); cognate with O.N. umboðsmaðr, from umboð "commission" (from um- "around" + boð "command") + maðr "man."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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