Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ARBITER

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pronounce ARBITER: Say it "AR bit ur." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: When a novelist wrote, "Panic would slice into her at the slightest thing, and mundane events would become arbiters of doom," she actually meant to write harbi__ers, not arbiters. Can you recall that word with the blanks? It sounds somewhat like arbiters, but it means "signs, warnings, or indications." And arbiters are judges! (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)     definition: "Arbiter" comes through French from Latin, where it means "judge, or witness." Specifically speaking, an arbiter is someone who settles a dispute: it's a person who judges or settles things when two people or groups disagree about something.  And more generally speaking, an arbiter is an authority: it's a person with expert knowledge about something and excellent taste in it, and when this person makes a judgment about something, people respect it. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Noun, the countable kind: "Dear Abby is a self-appointed arbiter of etiquette." Other forms:  The plural is "arbiters." There's a verb, "arbitrate," meaning "to judge, to mediate." It's both transitive ("She has to keep arbitrating their disputes") and intransitive ("She has to keep arbitrating between the kids"). And there's an adjective, "arbitrary," that used to mean "based on someone's personal judgment" but now most often means "random, impulsive, chosen by someone for just whatever reason they happened to have." how to use it: "Arbiter" is a common, formal word. Call someone an arbiter (or, call some group an arbiter) when you want to emphasize how their judgments (or opinions) really matter. Or at least, they think so. We almost always follow "arbiter" with "of:" "He's an arbiter of justice;" "She's an arbiter of fashion;" "Long ago, radio DJs were the arbiters of good music;" "These magazines still consider themselves arbiters of all things cool;" "Some food critics act as if they're the arbiters of whether or not the restaurant ought to prosper." examples: "She had magenta horn-rimmed glasses that were probably very cool, though Hazel was no arbiter of such things."    — Anne Ursu, Breadcrumbs, 2011 "By early 2004... the iTunes Music Store had shattered the tyranny of albums: Customers no longer had to buy an entire CD to get the one or two songs they really wanted... The decline in album sales led record stores to close their doors for good. The dominant arbiter of America's musical tastes shifted from Billboard to the iTunes Top 100."    — Scott Butterworth, Washington Post, 10 September 2014 has this page helped you understand "arbiter"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "arbiter" without saying "referee" or "authority." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Some person or group) acts as the arbiter of (something)." Example: "People Magazine acts as the arbiter of style and beauty, routinely publishing its lists of '100 Most Beautiful People' and 'Best & Worst Dressed.'" If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for September is Solve the Square! It's inspired by Squareword, which is like Wordle but in 3D. In each issue this month, find the 5-letter word that completes the square, creating words both horizontally and vertically. For a bonus point, define the word you've supplied. For the answers, scroll all the way down. Enjoy! Try this one today:    T   _   U  S  T  S  _   N  C  E  A  _    I  A  N  R   _   T   R  O   S   _  E   E   R  review this word: 1. A near-opposite of ARBITRATE is A. TO STIR THE POT. B. TO USE A METHOD. C. TO OFFER EVIDENCE. 2. In "Class Matters," a team of reporters points out that the US News & World Report acts as an "arbiter of academic _____," _____. A. integrity .. blatantly plagiarizing reports from other outlets B. prestige .. ranking colleges by the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen C. freedom .. often publishing arguments that are politically incorrect but intellectually sound Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B Answer to the game question:    T   R   U  S  T  S   I   N  C  E  A  V    I  A  N  R   E   T   R  O   S   T  E   E   R  When things RIVET you, they fascinate or entertain you in a way that keeps you frozen in place. Other good answers for this puzzle include RISEN and RIVEN (meaning "split apart)." a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.