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
Yet she appeared to be loyal to Epstein, a longtime friend and benefactor, right until his 2019 death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 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
This was the only association the two women had, and Angela truly must have been ignorant of the fact that her mysterious benefactor was also her victim’s mother.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Prior to that, money earmarked for scholarships was often expressed in correspondence between benefactors and college presidents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The announcement "will include a series of measures to make political funding more transparent, including restrictions on donations from foreign-based benefactors", the paper says.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Supported by unnamed donors, he offers encouragement and religious-based morale boosts to politicians or their mutual benefactors.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
“I think the market is saying these financial companies are going to be the biggest benefactors of AI,” with margin and operational efficiency improvements, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 4, 2026
White benefactors supplied schoolbooks for their children—why not ask them to pass the hat for entire schools?
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
