mediator
Americannoun
Usage
What does mediator mean? A mediator is a person who mediates—helps to settle a dispute or create agreement when there is conflict between two or more people or groups by acting as an intermediary or go-between for those parties.The act or process of mediating is called mediation. Mediation always involves a mediator acting as an impartial third party to guide the communication between the conflicting parties.Sometimes, mediation happens in an informal way. You might act as a mediator for two friends by mediating their argument. But the word is perhaps most commonly used in more specific ways in formal situations, such as when a mediator mediates a labor dispute between a company and its striking employees or when a mediator mediates a divorce for two spouses.When mediation occurs in an official or legal context, such as when it has been ordered by a judge, it is often called arbitration and is performed by an arbitrator. Arbitration usually involves a decision that the parties are bound by. Mediation is typically less formal and usually involves suggestions for settling differences, as opposed to binding decisions.Example: I know you two have your differences, so I’d like to act as a mediator while you talk it out and try to come to an understanding.
Other Word Forms
- mediatorship noun
- undermediator noun
Etymology
Origin of mediator
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Anglo-French mediatur, Old French mediatour, from Latin mediātor “go-between, intermediary”; mediate, -tor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Merz said last week that two mediators had been tasked with making a proposal by the end of April.
From Barron's
After China took up the mantel as mediator, the two sides agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations.
From BBC
The president is widely reported to have passed on to the Iranians - via Pakistan, which is acting as a mediator - an outline of a 15-point plan to end the conflict.
From BBC
The mediators also say that Tehran is yet to deliver a final response to a 15-point plan to end the war.
Iran has yet to deliver a final response to a 15-point plan to end the war, according to mediators.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
