sponsoring

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

spon•sor /ˈspɑnsɚ/   n. [countable]

1. one who is responsible for, or supports, a person or thing.
2. Show Business a person, firm, organization, etc., that supports the cost of a television program by buying time for advertising during the broadcast:
   And now, a word from our sponsors.
3. a person or group that provides or pledges money for an event:
   the corporate sponsors of a race.
4. one who makes a pledge on behalf of another.

v. [~ + object]

5. to act as sponsor for:
   We sponsored a family who wanted to live in the United States for a summer.

spon•sor•ship, n. 

[uncountable] the sponsorship of the gun-control bill.

See -spond-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

spon•sor  (spon′sər), n. 

1. a person who vouches or is responsible for a person or thing.
2. Show Business a person, firm, organization, etc., that finances and buys the time to broadcast a radio or television program so as to advertise a product, a political party, etc.
3. a person who makes a pledge or promise on behalf of another.
4. Religion a person who answers for an infant at baptism, making the required professions and assuming responsibility for the child's religious upbringing; godfather or godmother.

v.t. 

5. to act as sponsor for;
   promise, vouch, or answer for.

• Latin spōnsor guarantor, equivalent. to spond(ēre) to pledge + -tor -tor, with dt s
• 1645–55

spon•so•ri•al  (spon sôr′ē əl, -sōr′-), adj.  spon′sor•ship′, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. patron, backer; guarantor.
• 2. advertiser.
• 5. guarantee, finance, back, underwrite.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sponsor / ˈspɒnsə/ noun

1. (a person or group that provides funds for an activity, esp)
2. a person or business firm that pays the costs of a radio or television programme in return for advertising time
3. a legislator who presents and supports a bill, motion, etc
4. Also called: godparent an authorized witness who makes the required promises on behalf of a person to be baptized and thereafter assumes responsibility for his or her Christian upbringing
5. a person who presents a candidate for confirmation
6. a person who undertakes responsibility for the actions, statements, obligations, etc, of another, as during a period of apprenticeship; guarantor

verb

1. (transitive) to act as a sponsor for

Etymology: 17th Century: from Latin, from spondēre to promise solemnly

sponsorial / spɒnˈsɔːrɪəl/ adjective

ˈsponsorˌship noun