Referee

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˌɹɛf.əˈɹiː/

Definitions

1. An official who enforces the rules and makes decisions during a sports match or competition
2. An individual who supervises a sporting event to enforce rules, ensure fair play, and resolve conflicts between participants
3. A person appointed to judge and enforce the regulations of a sports contest ; someone who offers a testimonial or endorsement of another's abilities or character

Etymology: The referee's job of sending a matter back to someone for a decision is built into the word itself. It comes from the Old French "referer", meaning "to relate, to refer", which descends from the Latin "referre", "to carry back, to report, to notify". The English noun probably took its shape from the past participle of that French verb, so that a referee was, in essence, the person to whom something had been referred for consideration. The sports sense is a later development. The word first belonged to the world of disputes and arbitration, where a matter was handed to an impartial party to settle. Only afterward did it narrow to the official who decides on the field or in the ring, although the underlying idea of an outside judge to whom a question is passed has stayed the same.

Synonyms: umpire, judge, official, arbiter, mediator

Antonyms: participant, player, competitor, contender, contestant