arbitrary

[In Fr. arbitraire; Sp., Port., & Ital. arbitrario ; Lat. arbitrarius = (1) pertaining to arbitration; (2) arbitrary, depending on the will; (3) unfixed, uncertain.] A. Ordinary Language: 1. According to one's own will or caprice and probably not defensible at the bar of reason or justice; capricious. "It may be perceived with what insecurity we ascribe effects, depending on the natural period of time, unto arbitrary calculations, and such as vary at pleasure."-Browne: Vulgar Errours. "But the detailed description of the lights on the Roman spears, in the Sabine war of 503 B.C., given by Dionysius, has all the appearance of arbitrary fiction." -Lewis: Early Rom . Hist ., chap. v., § 11. 2. Despotic, tyrannical. (Applied to power, the deeds of a government, or to the character of a ruler.) "The thought of establishing arbitrary power, by calling in the aid of foreign arins,.."-Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , chap. ii. had served the most arbitrary of monarchs " Ibid., chap. xxiii. B. Technically : Law. Arbitrary punishment: (1) A punishment left to the discretion of the judge; (2) because capital punishments are never so left, therefore it signifies also a penalty not capital. Arbitrary Consecration of Tithes. [TITHES.]