ombudsman

See also: ombudsmän

English

WOTD – 25 November 2007

Etymology

Borrowed from Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɒmbədzmən/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɑmbədzmən/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• (US)

  (file)

Noun

ombudsman (plural ombudsmen)

1. An appointed official whose duty is to investigate complaints, generally on behalf of individuals such as consumers or taxpayers, against institutions such as companies and government departments.
2. A designated internal mediator in an organization whose duty is to assist members with conflict resolution and other problems and to serve as an independent consultant to recommend changes to policies or procedures to improve organization effectiveness, efficiency, and humaneness.

Usage notes

• This term is derived from Swedish, in which language the suffix -man is not always gender-specific. Nevertheless, the words ombud, ombuds, ombudsperson, and ombudswoman have been coined to remedy the perceived gender-specificity of ombudsman in English.

Derived terms

• ombud
• ombuds
• ombudsperson
• ombudswoman

Translations

official who investigates complaints

• Arabic: أَمِين اَلْمَظَالِم‎ m (ʾamīn al-maẓālim)
• Armenian: օմբուդսմեն (hy) (ōmbudsmen), մարդու իրավունքների պաշտպան (hy) (mardu iravunkʿneri paštpan)
• Bulgarian: омбудсман (bg) (ombudsman)
• Catalan: síndic de greuges (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 申訴專員, 申诉专员 (shēnsù zhuānyuán), 調查專員, 调查专员 (diàochá zhuānyuán)

• Czech: ombudsman (cs) m
• Danish: ombudsmand (da) c
• Dutch: ombudsman (nl)
• Faroese: umboðsmaður
• Finnish: oikeusasiamies (fi), välimies (fi)
• French: ombudsman (fr) m, médiateur (fr) m
• Galician: valedor do pobo m
• Georgian: ომბუდსმენი (ombudsmeni), სახალხო დამცველი (saxalxo damcveli)
• German: Ombudsmann (de) m
• Hindi: लोकपाल (hi) (lokpāl), लोकायुक्त (lokāyukt)
• Hungarian: ombudsman
• Ido: mediacanto (io)
• Japanese: オンブズマン (ja) (onbuzuman), 苦情調査官 (くじょうちょうさかん, kujō chōsakan)

• Korean: 옴부즈만 (ombujeuman)
• Macedonian: народен правобранител (naroden pravobranitel), омбудсман (ombudsman)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ombudsmann (no) m

  Nynorsk: ombodsmann m

• Persian: دادآور‎ (dâd-âvar)
• Polish: ombudsman (pl) m
• Portuguese: ombudsman (pt) m, ouvidor (pt) m
• Romanian: ombudsman (ro) m
• Russian: уполномо́ченный по права́м челове́ка m (upolnomóčennyj po pravám čelovéka), омбудсме́н (ru) m (ombudsmén), омбудсма́н m (ombudsmán)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: омбу̀дсман m

  Latin: ombùdsman (sh) m, pȗčkī pravobrànitelj m

• Spanish: , mediador (es)
• Swedish: ombudsman (sv)
• Tajik: додовар (dodovar)
• Turkish: ombudsman (tr)
• Urdu: محتسب‎ m (mohtasib)
• Welsh: ombwdsman (cy) m

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Cebuano

Etymology

From English ombudsman, borrowed from Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Noun

ombudsman

1. an ombudsman

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Czech

Etymology

From Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔmbʊtsˌman/

Noun

ombudsman m

1. ombudsman

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Dutch

Etymology

From Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔm.bʏts.mɑn/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

ombudsman m (plural ombudsmannen, diminutive ombudsmannetje n)

1. ombudsman

Derived terms

• ombudsvrouw
• ombudspersoon, ombudsmens (jocular)

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French

Etymology

From Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔm.byds.man/, /ɔ̃.byds.mɑ̃/

Noun

ombudsman m or f (plural ombudsmans)

1. An appointed official within an organization whose duty is to investigate complaints against that organization by its customers, taxpayers, and sometimes employees, and often to act as a consultant to improve services and processes.

Usage notes

• In Quebec, the office in government services is called protecteur du citoyen. A similar office in France is that of the médiateur, though its precise functions differ.

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Polish

Etymology

From Swedish ombudsman.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔmˈbut.sman/

Noun

ombudsman m pers

1. ombudsman

Declension

declension of ombudsman

	singular	plural
nominative	ombudsman	ombudsmani
genitive	ombudsmana	ombudsmanów
dative	ombudsmanowi	ombudsmanom
accusative	ombudsmana	ombudsmanów
instrumental	ombudsmanem	ombudsmanami
locative	ombudsmanie	ombudsmanach
vocative	ombudsmanie	ombudsmani

Further reading

• ombudsman in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ombudsman in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Noun

ombudsman m (plural ombudsmen or ombudsmans or ombudsman)

1. ombudsman (official who investigates complaints)

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Romanian

Etymology

From English ombudsman, from Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Noun

ombudsman m (plural ombudsmani or ombudsmeni)

1. ombudsman

Declension

Declension of ombudsman

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) ombudsman	ombudsmanul	(niște) ombudsmani	ombudsmanii
genitive/dative	(unui) ombudsman	ombudsmanului	(unor) ombudsmani	ombudsmanilor
vocative	ombudsmanule		ombudsmanilor

Declension of ombudsman

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) ombudsman	ombudsmanul	(niște) ombudsmeni	ombudsmenii
genitive/dative	(unui) ombudsman	ombudsmanului	(unor) ombudsmeni	ombudsmenilor
vocative	ombudsmanule		ombudsmenilor

See also

• reprezentant

References

• ombudsman in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ombǔdzman/

Noun

ombùdsman m (Cyrillic spelling омбу̀дсман)

1. ombudsman

Synonyms

• pučki pravobranitelj

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Spanish

Noun

ombudsman m or f (plural ombúdsmanes)

1. ombudsman

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Swedish

Etymology

ombud +‎ man. The origin of the word is found in Old Norse umboðsmaðr and the word “umbuds man”, meaning representative. The first preserved use in Swedish is from 1552.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔm.bʉːdsˌman/

Noun

ombudsman c

1. ombudsman

Declension

Declension of ombudsman
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	ombudsman	ombudsmannen	ombudsmän	ombudsmännen
Genitive	ombudsmans	ombudsmannens	ombudsmäns	ombudsmännens

Related terms

• barnombudsman
• diskrimineringsombudsman
• jämo
• jämställdhetsombudsman
• justitieombudsman

Descendants

Descendants of ombudsman in other languages

• Armenian: օմբուդսմեն (ōmbudsmen)
• Dutch: ombudsman
• English: ombudsman
• Georgian: ომბუდსმენი (ombudsmeni)

• German: Ombudsmann
• Portuguese: ombudsman
• Serbo-Croatian: ombudsman

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Turkish

Etymology

From English ombudsman, from Swedish ombudsman, from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /om.buds.mɑn/

Noun

ombudsman (definite accusative ombudsmanı, plural ombudsmanlar)

1. ombudsman

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	ombudsman
Definite accusative	ombudsmanı
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ombudsman	ombudsmanlar
Definite accusative	ombudsmanı	ombudsmanları
Dative	ombudsmana	ombudsmanlara
Locative	ombudsmanda	ombudsmanlarda
Ablative	ombudsmandan	ombudsmanlardan
Genitive	ombudsmanın	ombudsmanların
Possessive forms Singular Plural 1st singular ombudsmanım ombudsmanlarım 2nd singular ombudsmanın ombudsmanların 3rd singular ombudsmanı ombudsmanları 1st plural ombudsmanımız ombudsmanlarımız 2nd plural ombudsmanınız ombudsmanlarınız 3rd plural ombudsmanları ombudsmanları
Predicative forms Singular Plural 1st singular ombudsmanım ombudsmanlarım 2nd singular ombudsmansın ombudsmanlarsın 3rd singular ombudsman ombudsmandır ombudsmanlar ombudsmanlardır 1st plural ombudsmanız ombudsmanlarız 2nd plural ombudsmansınız ombudsmanlarsınız 3rd plural ombudsmanlar ombudsmanlardır