Payers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Entities obligated to settle debts or expenses through monetary transactions
2. Persons or organizations that fulfill financial responsibilities by delivering payments for services or goods
3. Individuals or groups responsible for providing money in exchange for goods, services, or debts

Etymology: "Payers" is simply the plural of "payer", which is formed from the verb "pay" plus the agent suffix "-er", meaning one who performs the action. The suffix "-er" descends from Old English "-ere", a marker for a person who does a particular thing, so a payer is literally one who pays. The verb "pay" arrived in English through Old French "paier", which came from Latin "pacare", meaning to pacify or appease. The Latin root is "pax", peace, so paying originally carried the sense of settling a debt until the creditor was satisfied and peace restored. Middle English took the verb as "payen" before it reached its modern spelling.

Synonyms: contributors, settlers

Antonyms: debtors