Backers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People or groups who provide support, often financial, to a person, project, or organization
2. Individuals or organizations offering assistance or funding to help achieve a goal
3. Those who give aid, usually monetary, to back the efforts of an initiative or cause

Etymology: "Backers" is the plural of "backer," which is simply "back" with the agent suffix "-er" attached. The "back" part traces to Old English "bæc," which goes back to a Proto-Germanic root, and it originally meant the rear part of the body, the spine-side of a person or animal. Over time that physical sense extended to the rear of things, and eventually to the sense of supporting from behind, which is where the financial meaning of "backing" someone grew from. The "-er" ending has a longer ancestry. It descends from a Latin suffix "-arius," used to form nouns denoting a person connected with something, and it entered English through Old French "-ier" and Middle English "-er." English then used it freely, attaching it to native stems like "back" to produce words for people who perform an action or hold a role.

Synonyms: supporters, funders, sponsors

Antonyms: opponents, adversaries