A person hired to work by the day, or historically, an arbitrator or umpire who settled disputes.
From Old English 'dæg' (day) and 'man'. The arbitrator sense comes from Middle English usage where such officials worked as needed, day by day, to mediate conflicts.
In Shakespeare's time, a daysman was like a medieval referee—they'd show up to settle arguments between neighbors or business partners and were paid per day, making them early versions of professional mediators!
Old English compound 'day' + 'man,' where 'man' historically served as the default human agent. Generic masculine became embedded in occupational terms despite both men and women serving as arbiters/umpires throughout history.
Use 'arbiter,' 'umpire,' or 'daysmerson' to denote the role without gendered language.
["arbiter","umpire","daysperson","mediator"]
Women served as arbiters and mediators in medieval and early modern dispute resolution, though records typically used masculine terms by convention.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.