ombudsman

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The Word of the Day for December 16 is:

ombudsman   \AHM-boodz-mun ("oo" as in "wood")\   noun
     1 : a government official (as in Sweden or New Zealand) 
who investigates complaints made against public officials     
    *2 : one that investigates reported complaints (as from 
students or consumers), reports findings, and helps to achieve 
equitable settlements

Example sentence:
     The newspaper's ombudsman responded to the many angry 
letters the article had generated.

Did you know?
     "Ombudsman" was borrowed from Swedish, where it 
means "representative," and ultimately derives from the Old 
Norse words "umboth" ("commission") and "mathr" ("man"). In the 
early 1800s, Sweden became the first country to appoint an 
independent official known as an ombudsman to investigate 
complaints against government officials and agencies. Since 
then, other countries (such as Finland, Denmark, and New 
Zealand), as well as some U.S. states, have appointed similar 
officials. The word "ombudsman" was first used in English in 
the late 1950s; by the 1960s, it was also being used to refer 
to a person who reviews complaints against an organization 
(such as a school or hospital) or to someone who enforces 
standards of journalistic ethics at a newspaper.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.