Definition of "benefactress" [ben•e•fac•tress]

• A woman who gives aid, especially financial aid. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "To these articles of intelligence she added, that the name of her benefactress was the celebrated Lady —, to whose character the youth was no stranger, though he had never seen her person before."
• ""But I do _not_ love _her_!" answered the proud girl, regarding the woman whom the world called her benefactress, with a glance of queenly scorn."
• "I shall be an old woman then, and should, it may be, have less objection to being known as his benefactress than at present."