_Daysman_ (No. 12. p. 188.)-- It seems to me that a preferable
etymology may be found to that given by Nares and Jacob. The arbiter
or judge might formerly have occupied a _dais_ or _lit de justice_, or
he might have been selected from those entitled to sit on the raised
parts of the courts of law, i.e. jurisconsulti, or barristers as we
call them. I have heard another etymology, which however I do not
favour, that the arbiter, chosen from men of the same rank as the
disputants, should be paid for loss of his day's work.