Conferer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who gives or grants an honor, degree, or right to someone else
2. Someone who formally awards or bestows a title, privilege, or degree
3. An individual who conveys or transfers an honor or distinction to another

Etymology: "Conferer" is a misspelling of "conferrer," so the history below is that of the correct form. The word is built from "confer" with the agent suffix "-er," which marks a person or thing that performs an action. "Confer," in turn, comes from Latin "conferre," meaning to bring together or to bring things into one place, and it entered English with the sense of bestowing something on someone. The suffix traces back through a long chain: Proto-Italic and Latin "-arius," which denoted a person connected with a thing, passed into Old English as "-ere," Old French as "-ier," and Middle English as "-er." The doubled "r" in "conferrer" reflects the Latin "conferre," where the r is doubled, so the spelling with one r is the error here. Because the suffix is ordinary and productive, the word is a straightforward formation: a person who confers an honor or distinction on another.

Synonyms: giver, donor, grantor, bestower, provider

Antonyms: receiver, taker, beneficiary, acceptor, grantee