benefactress

[ben-uh-fak-tris, ben-uh-fak-]

noun

1. a woman who confers a benefit, bequest, endowment, or the like.

Gender Note

What's the difference between benefactress and benefactor? See -ess.

Word History and Origins

Origin of benefactress¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English benefactrice; benefactor + -ess

Example Sentences

“What shocking conduct, Miss Eyre, to strike a young gentleman, your benefactress’s son! Your young master.”

Read more on Literature

The first time I saw a fingerbowl was at the home of my benefactress.

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But it’s insulting that we never get a sense of Abdul’s deeper motivations, the desires that lurk beneath his smiling, unquestioning devotion to his benefactress.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

For dinner, my benefactress and I wound up at one of the city’s trendiest restaurants, Sushi Nakazawa, in the West Village.

Read more on Washington Post

Soon Grover is settled in Anne’s guest cottage and impressing his benefactress with his impeccable manners and mad skills with begonias.

Read more on New York Times