donor

noun

do·​nor ˈdō-nər 

-ˌnȯr

1

: one that gives, donates, or presents something

2

: one used as a source of biological material (such as blood or an organ)

3

a

: a compound capable of giving up a part (such as an atom, chemical group, or subatomic particle) for combination with an acceptor

b

: an impurity added to a semiconductor to increase the number of mobile electrons

Synonyms

• donator
• benefactor
• contributor
• patron

Examples of donor in a Sentence

The money was raised from individual donors.

She is one of the charity's major donors.

Recent Examples on the Web

His question was a reference to a portion of the Voters' Right to Know Act that creates a process for political donors to get permission to opt-out of disclosure requirements by either a state court or the Citizens' Clean Elections Commission. —Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Sep. 2025

Proposition 50 supporters reported hundreds of thousands of individual donations, while the No camp has relied primarily on a single wealthy donor. —Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025

Martin’s development plan needs approval from the County Commission, which has already endorsed multiple projects by the high-profile developer and active donor in Miami-Dade races. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025

In the study, a team from Dartmouth College studied data from cloud-computing management company Snowflake on roughly 63 million donors and 788 million transactions. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English donoure, from Anglo-French doneur, from Latin donator, from donare

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing donor

• donor card
• sperm donor
• universal donor

Rhymes for donor

• kroner
• kronor
• loner
• owner
• stoner
• toner
• homeowner
• landowner
• shipowner

Kids Definition

donor

noun

do·​nor ˈdō-nər 

-ˌnȯr

1

: one that donates

2

: one used as a source of bodily material or parts

a blood donor

a kidney donor

Medical Definition

donor

noun

do·​nor ˈdō-nər  -ˌnȯ(ə)r 

1

: one used as a source of biological material (as blood or an organ)

2

: a compound capable of giving up a part (as an atom, chemical group, or elementary particle) for combination with an acceptor

Legal Definition

donor

noun

do·​nor ˈdō-nər, -ˌnȯr 

: one that gives, donates, grants, or confers something

specifically : settlor