umpire

noun

1. a person selected to rule on the plays in a game.
2. one selected to settle disputes about the application of settled rules or usages; a person agreed on by disputing parties to arbitrate their differences.

verb (used with object), um·pired, um·pir·ing.

3. to act as umpire in (a game).
4. to decide or settle (a controversy, dispute, or the like) as umpire; arbitrate.

verb (used without object), um·pired, um·pir·ing.

5. to act as umpire.

noun

1. an official who rules on the playing of a game, as in cricket or baseball
2. a person who rules on or judges disputes between contesting parties

verb

3. to act as umpire in (a game, dispute, or controversy)

n.c.1400, noumper, from Old French nonper “odd number, not even,” in reference to a third person to arbitrate between two, from non “not” + per “equal,” from Latin par. Initial -n- lost by mid-15c. due to faulty separation of a noumpere, heard as an oumpere. Originally legal, the gaming sense first recorded 1714 (in wrestling). v.c.1600, from umpire (n.). Related: Umpired; umpiring.