Basic Details
Word: Benefactor
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A person who gives money or other help to a person, school, hospital or good cause.
Synonyms: patron, donor, sponsor, supporter
Word origin: Comes from Latin bene, 'well', and facere, 'to do': a benefactor is someone who does good.
How to Spell Benefactor
Syllables: ben - e - fac - tor
Tricky part: It starts bene, with e after n, and it ends -tor, not -ter. Benifactor and benefacter are the usual errors.
Watch out for: benefacter, benifactor, benefactar
Memory tip: Bene means well (as in benefit) and a factor is something that makes things happen. A benefactor is a bene-factor who makes good things happen.
Usage Examples
Example 1: A kind benefactor paid for new computers in our school lab.
Example 2: The scholarship is named after the benefactor who started it fifty years ago.
Example 3: The temple trust thanked every benefactor by writing their names on a board near the gate.
Fun Fact
The opposite word in form is malefactor, from Latin male, 'badly': a malefactor is a person who does wrong.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Read the four words. Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. grattitude 2. benefactor 3. orphenage 4. scholership
a) the feeling of being thankful
b) a home for children whose parents have died
c) money given to a student to pay for study
d) a person who gives money or help to a good cause
Show answer
d) a person who gives money or help to a good cause. Scholarship has -ar- in the middle, orphanage has an a after h, and gratitude has one t before i; benefactor is right.
Word Connection
Choose the word nearest in meaning to benefactor as used in the sentence:
An unknown benefactor paid the hospital bills of the injured rickshaw driver.
a) patron
b) beneficiary
c) borrower
d) opponent
Show answer
a) patron. A patron gives support; a beneficiary is the one who receives it, which is the trap here.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
beneffactor
a) n
b) f
c) e
d) t
Show answer
b) f. The fac in the middle comes from Latin facere and has a single f.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The new library was built with money from a ftornebeac whose name is carved above the door.
a) benefactor
b) beneficiary
c) malefactor
d) manufacturer
Show answer
a) benefactor. Malefactor needs an m and an l; ten letters with b, n and two e's fit only benefactor.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A benefactor is most likely to ____.
a) donate money to a hospital
b) borrow money from a bank
c) complain about a hospital
d) steal from a shop
Show answer
a) donate money to a hospital
2. What does the Latin part bene in benefactor mean?
a) two
b) against
c) well
d) after
Show answer
c) well
