referee

See also: Referee and 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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛf.əˈɹiː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛf.əˈɹi/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

referee (plural referees)

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

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

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:match official

   The referee kicked Jim out of the game for fighting.

2. A person who settles a dispute.
3. (UK) A person who writes a letter of reference or provides a reference by phone call for someone. (In the UK such a person is sometimes, and in the US the person is typically, referred to as a reference.)

   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, referee is used in sports where the primary match official moves around with the game (for example, association football, American football and basketball), while umpire is used in sports where the official stays (approximately) in one place during play (for example, baseball, cricket and tennis).
  • In sports where the main official is called a referee, umpire can mean an assistant referee (or linesperson). This is currently the case in American football and basketball, and was historically the case in association football.
  • In sports where the main official is called an umpire, referee can mean an off-field official who is concerned with the administration of the game and the adjudication of disputes about the rules (for example, the tournament referee in tennis or the match referee in cricket).
  • Sports with multiple officials of equal rank each patrolling part of the field tend to prefer umpire even when the officials follow the action; for example, field hockey and netball both have two umpires each covering half the pitch and Australian rules football games are overseen by up to four field umpires.
• There are exceptions to this rule: for example, the official in snooker is a referee despite remaining at the table during play, while the officials in regatta sailing are umpires despite following the action.
• A judge in sport is usually an off-field role primarily concerned with awarding points in sports such as gymnastics, rather than disciplining rule violations. See for example boxing, where the judges score from the ringside and the referee controls the match from inside the ring. There are occasional exceptions; an American football judge for example is an on-field official assisting the referee.

Derived terms

• assistant referee
• match referee
• ref (clipping)
• referee assistant
• refereeship
• video assistant referee
• video referee

Related terms

• referral
• referrer

Descendants

• → German: Referee

Translations

sport: umpire, judge of a game — see also umpire

• Arabic: حَكَم (ar) m (ḥakam)
• Armenian: մրցավար (hy) (mrcʻavar)
• Basque: epaile
• Belarusian: суддзя́ m or f (suddzjá), рэферы́ m or f (refjerý), арбі́тр m (arbítr), арбі́тар m (arbítar)
• Bulgarian: съдия́ (bg) m (sădijá), ре́фер m (réfer)
• Catalan: àrbitre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裁判 (zh) (cáipàn)

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

  Ancient Greek: βραβευτής m (brabeutḗs)

• Greenlandic: dommeri
• Haitian Creole: abit
• Hebrew: שופט (he) m (shofét)
• 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 (ja) (referī)
• Khmer: អាជ្ញាកណ្ដាល (km) (ʼaacñaa kɑndaal)
• Korean: 심판(審判) (ko) (simpan), 레퍼리 (repeori)
• Luxembourgish: Arbitter m
• Macedonian: су́дија m (súdija), судијка f (sudijka)
• Malay: pengadil, wasit
• Māori: 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 or f (sudʹjá), ре́фери́ (ru) m or f (rɛ́ferí), арби́тр (ru) m (arbítr), (baseball, cricket) ампа́йр (ru) m (ampájr)
• Scottish Gaelic: rèitear m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: судија m, су́дац m, су̏ткиња f

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

• Slovak: rozhodca m, rozhodkyňa f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: sudnik m, sudnica f

• Spanish: árbitro (es) m, réferi (es) m or f, referí (es) m or f, referee m or f (Americas)
• Swedish: domare (sv) c
• Thai: ผู้ตัดสิน (pûu-dtàt-sǐn)
• Turkish: hakem (tr)
• Ukrainian: суддя́ m or f (suddjá), рефері́ m or f (referí), арбі́тр (uk) m (arbítr)
• Vietnamese: trọng tài (vi)
• Welsh: dyfarnwr m, dyfarnwraig f

person who settles a dispute — see also arbiter

• Arabic: حَكَم (ar) m (ḥakam)
• Bulgarian: съдия́ (bg) m (sădijá), арбитър (bg) m (arbităr)
• Catalan: àrbitre (ca) m
• Dutch: arbiter (nl) m
• 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)
• Māori: 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

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

• Swedish: skiljedomare c
• Welsh: canolwr (cy) m, cyflafareddwr m

person who writes a letter of reference

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

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

• Dutch: referentie (nl) f
• 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
• Welsh: canolwr (cy) m

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

  Latin: 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. 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

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: реферирам (bg) (referiram), рецензирам (recenziram)
• Catalan: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: dømme
• Dutch: fluiten (nl), arbitreren (nl)
• 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 Greek: βραβεύω (brabeúō)

• Italian: arbitrare (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 심판을 보다 (simpan-eul boda)
• Macedonian: су́ди (súdi)
• Māori: rewherī
• Polish: sędziować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: arbitrar (pt)
• Romanian: arbitra (ro)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: arbitrar (es)
• Swedish: döma (sv)
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

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)

Finnish

Etymology

From English referee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrefereː/, [ˈre̞fe̞re̞ː]
• IPA^(key): /ˈreferiː/, [ˈre̞fe̞riː]
• Rhymes: -efereː
• Syllabification^(key): re‧fe‧ree
• Hyphenation^(key): 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
abessive		refereettä	refereittä
instructive		—	referein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of referee (Kotus type 20/filee, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative refereeni refereeni accusative nom. refereeni refereeni gen. refereeni genitive refereeni refereideni refereitteni partitive refereetäni refereitäni inessive refereessäni refereissäni elative refereestäni refereistäni illative refereeheni refereeseeni refereihini refereisiini adessive refereelläni refereilläni ablative refereeltäni refereiltäni allative refereelleni refereilleni essive refereenäni refereinäni translative refereekseni refereikseni abessive refereettäni refereittäni instructive — — comitative — refereineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative refereesi refereesi accusative nom. refereesi refereesi gen. refereesi genitive refereesi refereidesi refereittesi partitive refereetäsi refereitäsi inessive refereessäsi refereissäsi elative refereestäsi refereistäsi illative refereehesi refereeseesi refereihisi refereisiisi adessive refereelläsi refereilläsi ablative refereeltäsi refereiltäsi allative refereellesi refereillesi essive refereenäsi refereinäsi translative refereeksesi refereiksesi abessive refereettäsi refereittäsi instructive — — comitative — refereinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative refereemme refereemme accusative nom. refereemme refereemme gen. refereemme genitive refereemme refereidemme refereittemme partitive refereetämme refereitämme inessive refereessämme refereissämme elative refereestämme refereistämme illative refereehemme refereeseemme refereihimme refereisiimme adessive refereellämme refereillämme ablative refereeltämme refereiltämme allative refereellemme refereillemme essive refereenämme refereinämme translative refereeksemme refereiksemme abessive refereettämme refereittämme instructive — — comitative — refereinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative refereenne refereenne accusative nom. refereenne refereenne gen. refereenne genitive refereenne refereidenne refereittenne partitive refereetänne refereitänne inessive refereessänne refereissänne elative refereestänne refereistänne illative refereehenne refereeseenne refereihinne refereisiinne adessive refereellänne refereillänne ablative refereeltänne refereiltänne allative refereellenne refereillenne essive refereenänne refereinänne translative refereeksenne refereiksenne abessive refereettänne refereittänne instructive — — comitative — refereinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative refereensä refereensä accusative nom. refereensä refereensä gen. refereensä genitive refereensä refereidensä refereittensä partitive refereetään refereetänsä refereitään refereitänsä inessive refereessään refereessänsä refereissään refereissänsä elative refereestään refereestänsä refereistään refereistänsä illative refereehensä refereeseensä refereihinsä refereisiinsä adessive refereellään refereellänsä refereillään refereillänsä ablative refereeltään refereeltänsä refereiltään refereiltänsä allative refereelleen refereellensä refereilleen refereillensä essive refereenään refereenänsä refereinään refereinänsä translative refereekseen refereeksensä refereikseen refereiksensä abessive refereettään refereettänsä refereittään refereittänsä instructive — — comitative — refereineen refereinensä

Further reading

• “referee”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English referee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /refeˈɾi/ [re.feˈɾi], /ˈrefeɾi/ [ˈre.fe.ɾi]
• Rhymes: -i, -efeɾi
• Syllabification: re‧fe‧ree

Noun

referee m or f by sense (plural referees)

1. (Latin America) alternative form of réferi

   Alternative form: referí

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

• “referee”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• “árbitro, réferi y referí, formas válidas”, in FundéuRAE (Fundación del Español Urgente) [Foundation of Urgent Spanish] (in Spanish), Agencia EFE [Agency EFE]; Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2 September 2016