benefactor

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

benefactor

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• benefactour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English benefactor, borrowed from Medieval Latin benefactor (“he who bestows a favor”), from Latin benefaciō (“benefit someone”), from bene (“good”) + faciō (“do, make”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛnəˌfaktə/
• (General American) enPR: bĕn'əfăktər, IPA^(key): /ˈbɛnəˌfæktɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ben‧e‧fac‧tor

Noun

benefactor (plural benefactors)

1. Somebody who gives a gift, often money to a charity.
2. Someone who performs good or noble deeds.

Derived terms

• benefactorship

Related terms

• benefactive
• benefactress
• benefactrix
• beneficent
• beneficiary (near antonym)
• benevolent

Translations

on who gives gifts or help

Arabic: مُتَبَرِّع m (mutabarriʕ) Armenian: բարերար (hy) (barerar) Belarusian: дабрачы́нец m (dabračýnjec), дабрачы́нка f (dabračýnka), дабрадзе́й m (dabradzjéj), дабрадзе́йка f (dabradzjéjka) Bulgarian: благотвори́тел m (blagotvorítel), благотвори́телка f (blagotvorítelka), благоде́тел (bg) m (blagodétel), благоде́телка f (blagodételka) Catalan: benefactor m Chinese: Mandarin: 恩人 (zh) (ēnrén) Coptic: ⲉⲩⲉⲣⲅⲉⲧⲏⲥ (euergetēs) Czech: dobrodinec m Danish: velgører c Dutch: weldoener (nl) m, weldoenster (nl) f Esperanto: bonfaranto Estonian: heategija Finnish: hyväntekijä, lahjoittaja (fi) French: bienfaiteur (fr) m, bienfaitrice (fr) f Friulian: benfatôr m German: Wohltäter (de) m, Wohltäterin (de) f, Benefaktor m Greek: ευεργέτης (el) m (evergétis), δωρητής (el) m (doritís) Ancient: εὐεργέτης m (euergétēs) Hungarian: jótevő (hu) Ido: bonfacanto (io) Italian: benefattore (it) m, benefattrice (it) f Japanese: 恩人 (ja) (おんじん, onjin) Khmer: អ្នកមានគុណ (ʼnɑɑkmiənkun) Korean: 은인(恩人) (ko) (eunin) Latin: benefactor m Latvian: labdaris m Lithuanian: geradarys m Macedonian: добротвор m (dobrotvor) Maori: kaitautoko, kaioha Norman: beinfaiteur m Norwegian: Bokmål: velgjører m or f Old English: wel-doend Persian: نیکوکار (fa) (nikukâr), کرفه‌گر (kerfe-gar) Polish: dobroczyńca (pl), ofiarodawca (pl), ofiarodawczyni f, benefaktor (pl) m (archaic), benefaktor (pl) m (archaic), benefaktorka f (archaic) Portuguese: benfeitor (pt) Romanian: binefăcător (ro) m, binefăcătoare (ro) f Russian: благоде́тель (ru) m (blagodételʹ), благоде́тельница (ru) f (blagodételʹnica), благотвори́тель (ru) m (blagotvorítelʹ), благотвори́тельница (ru) f (blagotvorítelʹnica) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: dobročinac (sh) m, dobročinitelj (sh) m, dobročiniteljka f, dobročinilac (sh) m, dobrotvor (sh) m Slovak: dobrodinec m Slovene: dobrotnik m, dobrotnica f Spanish: bienhechor (es) m, benefactor (es) m, bienfechor m (disused) Swedish: välgörare (sv) c Thai: ผู้อุปถัมภ์, ผู้อุปการะ Tocharian B: kärtse-yāmi, tanāpate Turkish: hayırsever (tr) Ukrainian: благоді́йник (uk) m (blahodíjnyk), благоді́йниця (uk) f (blahodíjnycja), доброчи́нець m (dobročýnecʹ), доброді́йник m (dobrodíjnyk), доброді́йниця f (dobrodíjnycja), доброді́й m (dobrodíj), доброді́йка (uk) f (dobrodíjka) Venetan: benefator m Vietnamese: ân nhân (vi) Volapük: (♂♀) benodan (vo), (♂) hibenodan, (♀) jibenodan Welsh: cymwynaswr (cy) m, cymwynaswraig f

Catalan

Alternative forms

• benfactor

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin benefactōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [bə.nə.fəkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [be.ne.fakˈtoɾ]

Noun

benefactor m (plural benefactors, feminine benefactora, feminine plural benefactores)

1. benefactor

Related terms

• malfactor, malefactor

Further reading

• “benefactor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “benefactor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “benefactor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “benefactor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Latin

Etymology

From benefaciō or benefactus +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [bɛ.nɛˈfak.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [be.neˈfak.t̪or]

Noun

benefactor m (genitive benefactōris); third declension

1. (Late Latin) benefactor; one who confers a favour

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	benefactor	benefactōrēs
genitive	benefactōris	benefactōrum
dative	benefactōrī	benefactōribus
accusative	benefactōrem	benefactōrēs
ablative	benefactōre	benefactōribus
vocative	benefactor	benefactōrēs

Antonyms

• malefactor

Related terms

• benefactus

Descendants

• French: bienfaiteur
• Friulian: benfatôr
• Galician: benfeitor
• Italian: benefattore
• Norman: beinfaiteur
• Old Catalan: benfaytor
• Portuguese: benfeitor
• Romanian: binefăcător
• Sicilian: benifatturi
• Spanish: bienhechor
• Venetan: benefator
• → Catalan: benefactor
• → English: benefactor
• → Spanish: benefactor

References

• “benefactor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “benefactor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin benefactor, from Latin benefaciō. Compare the inherited doublet bienhechor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /benefaɡˈtoɾ/ [be.ne.faɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: be‧ne‧fac‧tor

Noun

benefactor m (plural benefactores, feminine benefactora, feminine plural benefactoras)

1. benefactor

Related terms

• bienfacer

Further reading

• “benefactor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024