noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of benefactor
1425–75; late Middle English benefactour < Late Latin; see bene-, factor
Explanation
Every school, museum, and struggling artist is in search for a generous benefactor, or someone to provide the financial means to keep everything running smoothly. The Latin roots of benefactor are bene, which means "well," and facere, which means "to do" — literally, "to do well." A benefactor does well by supporting (usually financially) a person or a good cause. In the old days, a struggling artist or actor might have been supported by a wealthy benefactor. Now, many struggling artists and actors have to rely on waiting tables and other odd jobs instead.
Vocabulary lists containing benefactor
Take the Bad with the Good: Bene and Mal
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Giving Words
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Make Do: Fac
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Let’s say your benefactor bought the house for $500,000, and the house was worth $1.5 million when you inherited it.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
With this visit, President Xi will feel he has done enough to remind Kim that his main benefactor is China.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
In the 1870s, Leland Stanford, the railroad magnate and benefactor of the university that bears his name, funded an effort to find out.
From Slate ● May 25, 2026
Until the decline and fall of its benefactor, the Soviet Union, Cuba had an army of more than 200,000 soldiers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
But most especially, my most sincere gratitude goes to our true benefactor, El Jefe Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, Champion of Education, Light of the Antilles, First Teacher, Enlightener of His People.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Nearly every state in the U.S. has a version of California’s slayer statute, which effectively disinherits beneficiaries who’ve “feloniously and intentionally” killed their benefactors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
But persuading living benefactors to lift restrictions doesn’t always generate enough money to keep schools afloat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Supported by unnamed donors, he offers encouragement and religious-based morale boosts to politicians or their mutual benefactors.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
And if last week's reporting on LIV is accurate, the money tap from their Saudi Arabian benefactors might soon dry up.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
“Why do you wish to destroy your benefactors? They have food for you, but they cannot give it to you until you do what they want.”
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
