Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
arbitrate, adjudicate, mediate (vv.)
To arbitrate is “to have a third party, chosen by the disputants, decide a dispute”; to mediate is “to serve as mediator, a third party who will attempt to conciliate the disputants, to find some compromise agreement,” and to adjudicate is “to serve as a judge, to hear and decide a case.” Adjudicate suggests that neither conciliation nor compromise is a goal.
