A person or organization that provides money to support a project, business, or cause.
From 'fund' (from Latin 'fundus' meaning bottom or estate) plus the agent suffix '-er'. The modern meaning emerged in the 20th century as funding became a formal business practice.
The word 'funder' is surprisingly recent—before the 1900s, people would say 'capitalist' or 'patron' instead. Today's venture capitalists are just modern versions of Renaissance art patrons, but now they fund startups instead of cathedrals!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.