Thursday, 10 November 2022

The Scandinavian roots of the word 'ombudsman'

'Ombudsman' is a word borrowed from Scandinavian 'ombudsman'. The word entered the English language some time around 1959.


ombudsman [noun] [1959]
  • a government official (as in Sweden or New Zealand) appointed to receive and investigate complaints made by individuals...
  • one that investigates, reports on, and helps settle complaints
See 'ombudsman' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Scandinavian.

Etymology: Swedish, literally, representative, from Old Norse 'umbothsmathr' from 'umboth' commission + 'mathr' man
See more loan words from 1950s.


No comments:

Post a Comment