noun
donor
DOH-ner/ˈdəʊnər/
A source that freely supplies something to another.
The donor gives a box of supplies to the community shelter.
Etymology
A donor is literally someone who gives a gift. The older sense of a giver or grant-maker later extended to someone supplying blood, organs, or tissue for another’s medical treatment.
In context
there's not enough donor cycles. There's not enough young, healthy people falling off their motorcycle and donating that tissue to us.
More examples
- An anonymous donor pays for the school's new computers.
- The hospital needs a blood donor with a matching blood type.
- She agrees to become a kidney donor for her brother.
- In this reaction, the molecule acts as an electron donor.
Forms
Similar words
- contributor
- Often gives one part of a larger shared effort.
- benefactor
- Emphasizes helping a person or institution, especially financially.
- giver
- A broader everyday term for someone who gives something.