benefactor

noun

ben·​e·​fac·​tor ˈbe-nə-ˌfak-tər 

: someone or something that provides help or an advantage : one that confers a benefit

a benefactor of humankind

especially : a person who makes a gift or bequest

His endowments … placed him high among the benefactors of the convent.

—Jane Austen

a wealthy benefactor

Did you know?

A benefactor may be involved in almost any field. One may endow a scholarship fund; another may give money to expand a library; still another may leave a generous sum to a hospital in her will. The famous benefactions of John D. Rockefeller included the gifts that established the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Rockefeller University. Many benefactors have reported that giving away their money turned out to be the most rewarding thing they ever did.

Synonyms

• angel
• donator
• donor
• fairy godmother
• Maecenas
• patron
• sugar daddy

Examples of benefactor in a Sentence

With the help of a rich benefactor he set up a charity.

an anonymous benefactor gave the school a dozen new computers

Recent Examples on the Web

Rebekah Mercer, a benefactor of Breitbart News and of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, gave $1 million to MDMA research. —Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 1 Nov. 2024

Not since Heidi Klum has a celebrity committed so fully and intricately in their Halloween costumes, leaving one to wonder if this anonymous benefactor has been funding other famous Halloweenies. —Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 24 Oct. 2024

Nvidia has long been a contributor, and benefactor, of the OCP, which Facebook started over 10 years ago, providing reference designs for GPU boards such as the HGX-H100 Baseboard which is now used in the majority of AI installations. —Karl Freund, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024

Hezbollah's founding and resistance to Israel Founded following the 1982 Lebanon War, Hezbollah opposes Israel and Western powers operating in the Middle East and functions as a proxy of its biggest benefactor, Iran. —Jacob Knutson, Axios, 24 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

benefactor

noun

bene·​fac·​tor

ˈben-ə-ˌfak-tər

: one who helps another especially by giving money