arbitrium

arbitrium

Latin

Etymology

    From arbiter + -ium.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    arbitrium n (genitive arbitriī or arbitrī); second declension

    1. the decision of an arbiter, arbitration
    2. judgement, decision, opinion
    3. discretion, liberal decision; arbitrary decision, whim
    4. mastery, dominion, authority
      Synonyms: potestās, imperium, auctōritās, diciō, ductus, regimen, regimentum

    Declension

    Second-declension noun (neuter).

    singular plural
    nominative arbitrium arbitria
    genitive arbitriī
    arbitrī1
    arbitriōrum
    dative arbitriō arbitriīs
    accusative arbitrium arbitria
    ablative arbitriō arbitriīs
    vocative arbitrium arbitria

    1Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

    Alternative forms

    • arbiterium

    Descendants

    The forms that reflect /ī/ as opposed to the expected /i/ may be due to yod metathesis (/idrju > ijdru/), or indicate borrowings.

    • Catalan: albir
    • Old French: arvoire (illusion; doubt)
    • Leonese: albidru (reasoning)
    • Old Occitan: albire (imagination, thought)
      • Occitan: aubire
    • Portuguese: alvedrio (free will), alvitre (suggestion, advice)
    • Spanish: albedrío (will)
    • Sicilian: arbitru (tool, contrivance)
    • French: arbitre
    • Italian: arbitrio
    • Portuguese: arbítrio
    • Spanish: arbitrio

    References

    • arbitrium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • arbitrium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • "arbitrium", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    • arbitrium”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • the decision of the question rests with you: penes te arbitrium huius rei est
      • to put the matter entirely in some one's hands: arbitrio alicuius omnia permittere
      • to put the matter entirely in some one's hands: omnium rerum arbitrium alicui permittere
      • just as you wish: arbitratu, arbitrio tuo
      • to be at the beck and call of another; to be his creature: totum se fingere et accommodare ad alicuius arbitrium et nutum
      • to come before the tribunal of the critics: in existimantium arbitrium venire (Brut. 24. 92)
      • aristocracy (as a form of government): civitas, quae optimatium arbitrio regitur