Judge vs. Referee — What's the Difference?

One who makes estimates as to worth, quality, or fitness

A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titles depending on the sport, including umpire, judge, arbiter (chess), commissaire, or technical official (by the International Olympic Committee).

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions.

One to whom something is referred, especially for settlement, decision, or an opinion as to the thing's quality.

To form an opinion or estimation of after careful consideration

Sports & Games An official supervising the play; an umpire.

(Law) To hear and decide on in a court of law

(Law) A person appointed by a court to assist a judge in the trying of a case or to hear certain types of cases.

To pass sentence on; condemn.

To judge as referee.

To act as one appointed to decide the winners of

To act as referee.

To determine or declare after consideration or deliberation

(sports) An umpire or judge; an official who makes sure the rules are followed during a game.

(Informal) To have as an opinion or assumption; suppose

A person who settles a dispute.

(Bible) To govern; rule. Used of an ancient Israelite leader.

(UK) A person who writes a letter of reference or provides a reference by phone call for someone. US English: reference.

To form an opinion or evaluation.

An expert who judges the manuscript of an article or book to decide if it should be published.

To act or decide as a judge.

To act as a referee.

(Law) A public official who hears and decides cases brought in court.

One to whom a thing is referred; a person to whom a matter in dispute has been referred, in order that he may settle it.

(Law) A public official who hears and decides cases or matters in a forum other than a court, such as an administrative proceeding.

(sports) the chief official (as in boxing or American football) who is expected to ensure fair play

One appointed to decide the winners of a contest or competition.

Someone who reads manuscripts and judges their suitability for publication

A leader of the Israelites during a period of about 400 years between the death of Joshua and the accession of Saul.

An attorney appointed by a court to investigate and report on a case

Judges (used with a sing. verb) See Table at Bible.

Be a referee or umpire in a sports competition

A public official whose duty it is to administer the law, especially by presiding over trials and rendering judgments; a justice.

Evaluate professionally a colleague's work

A person who decides the fate of someone or something that has been called into question.

A person officiating at a sports event, a contest, or similar.

A person who evaluates something or forms an opinion.

A shophet, a temporary leader appointed in times of crisis in ancient Israel.

(transitive) To sit in judgment on; to pass sentence on (a person or matter).

(intransitive) To sit in judgment, to act as judge.

(transitive) To judicially rule or determine.

To sentence to punishment, to judicially condemn.

To award judicially; to adjudge.

(transitive) To form an opinion on; to appraise.

To constitute a fitting appraisal or criterion of; to provide a basis for forming an opinion on.

(intransitive) To arbitrate; to pass opinion on something, especially to settle a dispute etc.

(transitive) To have as an opinion; to consider, suppose.

(ambitransitive) To form an opinion; to infer.

(ambitransitive) To criticize or label another person or thing.

(ambitransitive) To govern as biblical judge or shophet (over some jurisdiction).

A public officer who is invested with authority to hear and determine litigated causes, and to administer justice between parties in courts held for that purpose.

One who has skill, knowledge, or experience, sufficient to decide on the merits of a question, or on the quality or value of anything; one who discerns properties or relations with skill and readiness; a connoisseur; an expert; a critic.

A person appointed to decide in a trial of skill, speed, etc., between two or more parties; an umpire; as, a judge in a horse race.

One of the supreme magistrates, with both civil and military powers, who governed Israel for more than four hundred years.

The title of the seventh book of the Old Testament; the Book of Judges.

To hear and determine, as in causes on trial; to decide as a judge; to give judgment; to pass sentence.

To compare facts or ideas, and perceive their relations and attributes, and thus distinguish truth from falsehood; to determine; to discern; to distinguish; to form an opinion about.

To hear and determine by authority, as a case before a court, or a controversy between two parties.

To examine and pass sentence on; to try; to doom.

To arrogate judicial authority over; to sit in judgment upon; to be censorious toward.

To determine upon or deliberation; to esteem; to think; to reckon.

To exercise the functions of a magistrate over; to govern.

A public official authorized to decide questions bought before a court of justice

An authority who is able to estimate worth or quality

Determine the result of (a competition)

Form an opinion of or pass judgment on;

Judge tentatively or form an estimate of (quantities or time);

Pronounce judgment on;

Put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of;