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definitions

sponsor

[spon-ser]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sponsor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who vouches or is responsible for a person or thing.
a person, firm, organization, etc., that finances and buys the time to broadcast a radio or television program so as to advertise a product, a political party, etc.
a person who makes a pledge or promise on behalf of another.
a person who answers for an infant at baptism, making the required professions and assuming responsibility for the child's religious upbringing; godfather or godmother.

verb (used with object)

to act as sponsor for; promise, vouch, or answer for.

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RELATED WORDS

benefactor, patron, advocate, promoter, backer, underwriter, supporter, subsidize, finance, back, fund, bankroll, guarantee, mainstay, angel, guarantor, surety, sustainer, godparent, stake

Origin of sponsor

1645–55; < Latin spōnsor guarantor, equivalent to spond(ēre) to pledge + -tor -tor, with dt > s
Related formsspon·so·ri·al [spon-sawr-ee-uhl, -sohr-] /spɒnˈsɔr i əl, -ˈsoʊr-/, adjectivespon·sor·ship, nounun·spon·sored, adjective

Synonyms for sponsor

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sponsor ON THESAURUS.COM
1. patron, backer; guarantor. 2. advertiser. 5. guarantee, finance, back, underwrite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sponsor

Contemporary Examples of sponsor

Historical Examples of sponsor

  • No sponsor ever gave the new arrival a mug or a silver spoon.

  • Once this task has been performed, we will sponsor your entry into present day society.

    Gun for Hire

    Dallas McCord Reynolds

  • But you have to post bond for your sponsor, too—five thousand credits.

    Starman's Quest

    Robert Silverberg

  • And in order to take the exams you have to find a sponsor who's already in the guild.

    Starman's Quest

    Robert Silverberg

  • You forget I am your sponsor, and,” she added gently, “I am more than that.

    The White Mice

    Richard Harding Davis

British Dictionary definitions for sponsor

sponsor

noun

(a person or group that provides funds for an activity, esp)
  1. a commercial organization that pays all or part of the cost of putting on a concert, sporting event, etc
  2. a person who donates money to a charity when the person requesting the donation has performed a specified activity as part of an organized fund-raising effort
mainly US and Canadian a person or business firm that pays the costs of a radio or television programme in return for advertising time
a legislator who presents and supports a bill, motion, etc
Also called: godparent
  1. an authorized witness who makes the required promises on behalf of a person to be baptized and thereafter assumes responsibility for his Christian upbringing
  2. a person who presents a candidate for confirmation
mainly US a person who undertakes responsibility for the actions, statements, obligations, etc, of another, as during a period of apprenticeship; guarantor

verb

(tr) to act as a sponsor for
Derived Formssponsorial (spɒnˈsɔːrɪəl), adjectivesponsorship, noun

Word Origin for sponsor

C17: from Latin, from spondēre to promise solemnly
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sponsor
n.

1650s, from Late Latin sponsor "sponsor in baptism," in Latin "a surety, guarantee," from sponsus, past participle of spondere "give assurance, promise solemnly" (see spondee). Sense of "person who pays for a radio (or, after 1947, TV) program" is first recorded 1931. The verb is attested from 1884, "to favor or support;" commercial broadcasting sense is from 1931.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper