sponsor

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   assume responsibility for or leadership of

   The senator announced that they would sponsor the health care plan.

2. 2
   noun

   A person or organization with some sort of responsibility for another person or organization, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or financial aspect.

   He was my sponsor when I applied to join the club.

3. 3
   noun

   A person or organization that pays all or part of the cost of an event, publication, media program, etc., usually in exchange for advertising.

   And now a word from our sponsor.

4. 4
   verb

   To be a sponsor for.

   Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

5. 5
   noun

   someone who supports or champions something

6. 6
   noun

   an advocate who presents a person (as for an award or a degree or an introduction etc.)

7. 7
   verb

   assume sponsorship of

8. 8
   verb

   do one's shopping at

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin spōnsor (“a surety", in Late Latin "a sponsor in baptism”).