{{Other uses}} {{distinguish|Donar (disambiguation){{!}}Donar|Doner (disambiguation){{!}}Doner}} A '''donor''' in general is a person, organization or government which donates something voluntarily. The term is usually used to represent a form of pure altruism, but is sometimes used when the payment for a service is recognized by all parties as representing less than the value of the donation and that the motivation is altruistic. In business law a ''donor'' is someone who is giving the gift (law), and a ''donee'' the person receiving the gift.
More broadly, the term is used to refer to any entity that serves as the source of something transferred to a different entity, including - in scientific fields - the source of matter or energy passed from one object to another.
The Online Etymology Dictionary traces the English-language word "donor" back to the mid-15th century, with origins in Anglo-French, Old French, Latin and Proto-Indo-European.<ref>{{OEtymD | donor}}</ref>
== In science== Often the word is used as a shorter term for:<!-- New links in alphabetical order please --> * Blood donor * Donor (semiconductors) * Egg donor * Electron donor — (by analogy) a technical term in chemistry and semiconductor physics (see also the next entry) * Organ donor * Sperm donor
== In society and international relations == * Benefactor (law) * Donor government or donor organisation in official development assistance * Grant (law) * Patronage
== In art ==
*Donor portrait — portrait of the person who paid for a painting, typically in a church
== In literature == In fairy tales, a donor is a stock character that tests the hero (and sometimes other characters as well) and provides magical assistance to the hero when he succeeds.
== See also == * Sponsor (commercial) * {{Wiktionary-inline}}
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==References== {{Reflist}}