mediate
v.v. to help two people or groups reach an agreement when they are having a disagreement. You act as a middle person to find a solution that works for everyone.
v. to intervene between parties in a dispute in order to produce an agreement or reconciliation. Often describes the process of facilitating communication to resolve a conflict without formal legal action.
A professional was hired to mediate the contract dispute.
The human resources manager had to mediate between the two employees to resolve their long-standing office conflict.
International diplomats were called in to mediate the peace talks, aiming to establish a ceasefire that both nations could accept without losing political face.
The adjective is first attested in the 1440s in Middle English, the verb in 1538; from Middle English mediat(e) (“intermediate; intercessory”), borrowed from Late Latin mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to divide in the middle; (in Medieval Latin) to be in the middle, be or become between, mediate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from medius (“middle”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).
The verb is often used with 'between' when referring to the parties involved, or as a transitive verb with the dispute as the object.
He mediated for the two sides.He mediated between the two sides.When describing the parties in a conflict, 'mediate' typically takes the preposition 'between' rather than 'for'.