benefactress

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a woman who gives money or other help to a person or cause; now often replaced by the gender-neutral benefactor

   The library honored its nineteenth-century benefactress with a portrait in the reading room.

Formed from benefactor + the feminine suffix -ess. Benefactor comes from Latin benefactor, 'one who does good,' based on bene ('well') and facere ('to do or make'). Benefactress was common when English regularly marked a woman's role with -ess; benefactor is now generally used for people of any gender.

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