Blesser

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person recognized for conferring blessings or divine favor upon others in rituals or spiritual ceremonies
2. An individual who imparts blessings or divine favor to others during ceremonies or spiritual practices
3. Someone who confers a blessing or divine favor on others, often during religious or sacred rites

Etymology: "Blesser" is a plain English formation: the verb "bless" with the agent suffix "-er," meaning one who performs the action. The suffix has a longer ancestry than the verb it attaches to. It traces back through Old English "-ere," a native English agent ending, and beyond that to a Proto-Germanic form, while a parallel Latin "-arius" passed into Old French as "-ier" and entered Middle English as "-er" as well. English thus has two separate routes into the same ending, which is why so many agent nouns look alike. The verb "bless" itself is older and more surprising. Its Old English form "blētsian" meant to consecrate with blood or to mark with a sacred sign, and the word's core idea is tied to blood rituals rather than to a general wish for good fortune. The noun "blesser" therefore describes someone who performs that sacred conferral, the original act being literal and ritual.

Synonyms: benefactor, patron