promoter

American  

[pruh-moh-ter] / prəˈmoʊ tər /

noun

promoters plural

1. a person or thing that promotes, furthers, or encourages.

2. a person who initiates or takes part in the organizing of a company, development of a project, etc.

3. a person who organizes and provides financial backing for a sporting event or entertainment.

4. Chemistry. any substance that in small amounts is capable of increasing the activity of a catalyst.

5. Also called collector.  Metallurgy. a water-repellent reagent enhancing the ability of certain ores to float so that they can be extracted by the flotation process.

6. Genetics.

   1. a site on a DNA molecule at which RNA polymerase binds and initiates transcription.

   2. a gene sequence that activates transcription.

7. Obsolete. an informer.

---

promoter British  

/ prəˈməʊtə /

noun

1. a person or thing that promotes

2. a person who helps to organize, develop, or finance an undertaking

3. a person who organizes and finances a sporting event, esp a boxing match

4. chem a substance added in small amounts to a catalyst to increase its activity

5. genetics a sequence of nucleotides, associated with a structural gene, that must bind with messenger RNA polymerase before transcription can proceed

---

promoter Scientific  

/ prə-mō′tər /

1. The region of an operon that acts as the initial binding site for RNA polymerase.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-promoter
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• promoters
  plural

Etymology

Origin of promoter

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; promote + -er ¹; replacing earlier promotour, from Anglo-French

Explanation

If you’ve been trying to get anyone and everyone to go see your friend’s band perform, then you could call yourself a promoter of that band. A promoter is a supporter, advocate, or booster for a person, group, or event. A promoter is an active supporter of something. A promoter of democracy, for example, is someone who tries to spread democracy throughout the world. Being a promoter is also a profession; one might be hired to make arrangements and generate publicity for some form of public entertainment, like a boxing match or a concert. Perhaps if you tell enough people about your friend's band, the band will hire you as its official promoter.

Example Sentences

Last month, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, who represents Joshua, dismissed speculation the fight could be staged in the US.

From BBC • Jul. 8, 2026

Hearn says neither Matchroom nor Warren's Queensberry can act as lead promoter because it would give one fighter's side an advantage over the other.

From BBC • Jun. 24, 2026

Kessler recently led a case for state attorney generals against concert promoter and ticketing firm Live Nation, resulting in a win for states, including California.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

To investigate these effects, scientists tracked DNA methylation, a common epigenetic modification in which chemical groups containing carbon and hydrogen atoms attach to promoter regions that regulate whether genes are turned on or off.

From Science Daily • Jun. 1, 2026

But above all, Brougham was a masterful promoter.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Related Words

• advertiser
• advocate
• backer
• booster
• organizer
• publicist
• sponsor