contributor

noun

con·​trib·​u·​tor kən-ˈtri-byə-tər 

-bə-,

-ˌbyü-

: someone or something that contributes something or that contributes to something

charitable contributors

… have suggested that the fee would hurt the agriculture industry, a sector they claim is the largest contributor to the state economy.

—Wenonah Hauter

… was illustrated by Oliver Munday, a frequent contributor to the Book Review …

—John Williams

These particles, which are known as black carbon and are the major component of soot, are the second most important contributor to global warming, behind only carbon dioxide, wrote the 31 authors of the study …

—Elisabeth Rosenthal

Examples of contributor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hobson was also a financial contributor for CBS News and Good Morning America. —Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 15 Apr. 2024

Even as freshmen, Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers were earning raves as potential WNBA contributors. —Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2024

Smith was projected to be a major offensive contributor for the under-20 team but had just three points in the Americans’ first four games in the preliminary round. —Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2024

Every product was determined to have excelled in each category by our editorial team, which is composed of in-house writers and editors as well as contributors — along with special consideration from dermatologists. —Kathleen Suico, Allure, 13 Apr. 2024

The contaminated soil was first discovered at the park in 2002, and Northrop Grumman was named as a major contributor to a groundwater plume spreading from the site. —Cb Cotton, Fox News, 13 Apr. 2024

Adobe is one of a few companies that pay contributors to submit content to train their AI models. —Laura Bratton, Quartz, 12 Apr. 2024

The department has tried to simplify the form over the course of this year -- implementing the Better FAFSA Form -- and has ramped up operations this spring, fixing an issue that prevented contributors without a Social Security number (SSN) from starting or accessing the form. —Arthur Jones Ii, ABC News, 11 Apr. 2024

David Nield is a freelance contributor at Popular Science, producing how to guides and explainers for the DIY section on everything from improving your smartphone photos to boosting the security of your laptop. —David Nield, Popular Science, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English contributour "person who pays a tax or assessment," borrowed from Anglo-French, "one who pays a share of a tax or fine," from Latin contribūt-, past participle stem of Latin contribuere "to give as a portion or share" + -our -or entry 1 — more at contribute

First Known Use

circa 1531, in the meaning defined above