sponsor

Etymology

From Latin sponsor (“a surety", in Late Latin "a sponsor in baptism”), from sponsus, past participle of spondeō.

noun

1. A person or organisation with some sort of responsibility for another person or organisation, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or financial aspect.
   He was my sponsor when I applied to join the club.
   They were my sponsors for immigration.
   1. A senior member of a twelve step or similar program assigned to a guide a new initiate and form a partnership with him.
      My narcotics anonymous sponsor became my best friend when I finally was able to do something about my meth problem.
      Members also choose a sponsor, with whom they are supposed to remain in regular, even daily, contact—and that, too, is a powerful boost for monitoring. 2011, Roy F. Baumeister, John Tierney, Willpower, page 173
2. One that pays all or part of the cost of an event, a publication, or a media program, usually in exchange for advertising time.
   And now a word from our sponsor.

verb

1. (transitive) 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. 2013-06-07, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36