Funder

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfʌndɚ/

Definitions

1. A person or organization that offers financial backing to facilitate various projects or endeavors
2. An entity that supplies necessary capital for the advancement of initiatives or businesses in exchange for potential benefits
3. Someone or an organization that gives money to support projects or activities

Etymology: "Funder" is a plain English formation: the noun "fund" with the agent suffix "-er," meaning someone who does the action, here providing money for something. The suffix itself has a long pedigree. It passed from Latin "-arius," through Old French "-ier," into Middle English as "-er," and it was already in Old English as "-ere," so English speakers have been turning verbs and nouns into person-words with this ending for centuries. The base "fund" comes from Latin "fundus," meaning bottom or foundation, which gave English the sense of a store of money set aside for a purpose. The idea of a bottom or base as the thing that holds everything up is what links a financial reserve to the physical ground beneath a building.

Synonyms: donor, sponsor, contributor