referee

See also: référée

English

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?], from past participle of Old French referer (“to relate, to refer”), from Latin referre (“to carry back, to report, to notify”); as if refer +‎ -ee, that is, the person to whom something is referred for consideration.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛf.əˈɹiː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛfəˈɹiː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

An association football referee (right) issues a yellow card to a player.

Noun

referee (plural referees)

1. (sports) An umpire or judge; an official who makes sure the rules are followed during a game.

   The referee kicked Jim out of the game for fighting.

2. A person who settles a dispute.
3. A person who writes a letter of reference or provides a reference by phone call for someone.

   Your application, along with letters from three referees, should be received by January 31.

4. An expert who judges the manuscript of an article or book to decide if it should be published.

Usage notes

• In general, and as a usage guideline, a referee moves around with the game, while an umpire stays (approximately) in one place.

Related terms

• ref

Translations

sport: umpire, judge of a game

• Arabic: حَكَم‎ (ar) m (ḥakam)
• Armenian: մրցավար (hy) (mrcʿavar)
• Basque: epaile
• Bulgarian: съдия́ (bg) m (sǎdijá), рефер m (refer)
• Catalan: àrbitre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裁判 (zh) (cáipàn)

• Crimean Tatar: akem
• Czech: rozhodčí (cs) m
• Danish: dommer (da) c
• Dutch: scheidsrechter (nl)
• Esperanto: decidisto, arbitraciisto
• Finnish: erotuomari (fi)
• French: arbitre (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Schiedsrichter (de) m, Schiedsrichterin (de) f
• Greek: διαιτητής (el) m (diaititís)

  Ancient: βραβευτής m (brabeutḗs)

• Greenlandic: dommeri
• Haitian Creole: abit
• Hungarian: bíró (hu), spori (hu)
• Irish: moltóir m, réiteoir m
• Italian: arbitro (it) m
• Japanese: 審判 (ja) (しんぱん, shinpan, しんばん, shinban), レフェリー (referī)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 심판(審判) (ko) (simpan)
• Luxembourgish: Arbitter m

• Macedonian: су́дија m (súdija), судијка f (sudijka)
• Malay: pengadil, wasit
• Maori: rewherī, kaiwawao
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dommer (no) m

  Nynorsk: dommar m

• Plautdietsch: Spellvemedla m
• Polish: sędzia (pl) m, arbiter (pl) m
• Portuguese: árbitro (pt) m, juiz (pt) m
• Romanian: arbitru (ro) m
• Russian: судья́ (ru) m (sudʹjá), рефери́ (ru) m (referí), арби́тр (ru) m (arbítr), (baseball, cricket) ампа́йр (ru) m (ampájr)
• Scottish Gaelic: rèitear m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: судија m, су́дац m, су̏ткиња f

  Roman: sudija (sh) m, súdac (sh) m, sȕtkinja (sh) f

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: sudnik m, sudnica f

• Spanish: árbitro (es), réferi (es) m
• Swedish: domare (sv) c
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: hakem (tr)
• Ukrainian: суддя́ m (suddjá), рефері́ m (referí), арбі́тр (uk) m (arbítr)
• Vietnamese: trọng tài (vi)

person who settles a dispute

• Bulgarian: съдия́ (bg) m (sǎdijá), арбитър (bg) m (arbitǎr)
• Catalan: àrbitre (ca) m
• Dutch: arbiter (nl)
• Finnish: välimies (fi), sovittelija (fi)
• French: arbitre (fr) m
• German: Schlichter (de) m (general), Schiedsmann m (in jurisdiction), Ombudsmann (de) m, Ombudsfrau (de) f (where formalized using this term)
• Greek: διαιτητής (el) m (diaititís), εισηγητής (el) m (eisigitís)
• Korean: 중재인(仲裁人) (ko) (jungjaein)
• Macedonian: су́дија m (súdija)

• Maori: rewherī
• Portuguese: árbitro (pt) m, juiz (pt) m
• Romanian: arbitru (ro) m, judecător (ro) m
• Russian: судья́ (ru) m (sudʹjá), арби́тр (ru) m (arbítr)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: судија m, су́дац m, су̏ткиња f

  Roman: sudija (sh) m, súdac (sh) m, sȕtkinja (sh) f

• Spanish: árbitro (es) m
• Swedish: skiljedomare c

person who writes a letter of reference

• Bulgarian: референт (bg) (referent)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 證明人 (zh), 证明人 (zh) (zhèngmíngrén)

• Dutch: referentie (nl) c
• Finnish: suosittelija (fi)
• German: Empfehlungsgeber m, Befürworter (de) m, Protagonist (de) m
• Irish: moltóir m

• Korean: 신원보증인(身元保證人) (sinwonbojeung'in)
• Macedonian: препора́чател m (preporáčatel)
• Romanian: referent (ro) m
• Russian: поручи́тель (ru) m (poručítelʹ), поручи́тельница (ru) f (poručítelʹnica)
• Swedish: referens (sv) c

expert who judges a manuscript

• Bulgarian: рецензент m (recenzent)
• Finnish: arvioija (fi)
• German: Rezensent (de) m, Lektor (de) m
• Greek: κριτής (el) m or f (kritís)
• Irish: measúnóir m
• Korean: 심사원(審査員) (ko) (simsawon)
• Macedonian: ве́штак m (véštak)

• Russian: рецензе́нт (ru) m (recenzént)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: рецѐнзент m, рецѐнзентица f

  Roman: recènzent (sh) m, recènzentica (sh) f

• Spanish: árbitro (es) m, revisor m
• Turkish: bilirkişi (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} rozhodca

Verb

referee (third-person singular simple present referees, present participle refereeing, simple past and past participle refereed)

1. To act as a referee.

   He has to referee three hockey games this weekend.

   She has to finish refereeing an article for Nature.

Translations

to act as a judge of a game or contest

• Bulgarian: реферирам (bg) (referiram), рецензирам (recenziram)
• Danish: dømme
• Esperanto: arbitracii
• Finnish: tuomita (fi), toimia tuomarina, tuomaroida (fi), sovitella (fi), suositella (fi), arvioida (fi)
• French: arbitrer (fr)
• German: schiedsrichtern (de) (rare), pfeifen (de) (coll.)
• Greek:

  Ancient: βραβεύω (brabeúō)

• Italian: arbitrare (it)
• Macedonian: су́ди (súdi)
• Maori: rewherī
• Polish: sędziować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: arbitrar (pt)
• Romanian: arbitra (ro)
• Spanish: arbitrar (es)
• Swedish: döma (sv)

to settle a dispute

• German: schlichten (de), entscheiden (de)

to write a letter of reference

• German: empfehlen (de), beurteilen (de), befürworten (de) (if deemed supportive)

to judge a manuscript

• German: lektorieren, beurteilen (de)

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrefereː/, [ˈre̞fe̞re̞ː]
• IPA^(key): /ˈreferiː/, [ˈre̞fe̞riː]
• Rhymes: -efereː
• Syllabification: re‧fe‧ree

Noun

referee

1. referee (expert who judges the manuscript of an article or book to decide if it should be published)

   Synonym: arvioija

Declension

Inflection of referee (Kotus type 20/filee, no gradation)
nominative		referee	refereet
genitive		refereen	refereiden refereitten
partitive		refereetä	refereitä
illative		refereehen refereeseen	refereihin refereisiin
		singular	plural
nominative		referee	refereet
accusative	nom.	referee	refereet
	gen.	refereen
genitive		refereen	refereiden refereitten
partitive		refereetä	refereitä
inessive		refereessä	refereissä
elative		refereestä	refereistä
illative		refereehen refereeseen	refereihin refereisiin
adessive		refereellä	refereillä
ablative		refereeltä	refereiltä
allative		refereelle	refereille
essive		refereenä	refereinä
translative		refereeksi	refereiksi
instructive		—	referein
abessive		refereettä	refereittä
comitative		—	refereineen

Possessive forms of referee (type filee)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	refereeni	refereemme
2nd person	refereesi	refereenne
3rd person	refereensä

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Spanish

Noun

referee m or f (plural referees)

1. referee