A person who begins or initiates something. In quot.: (perhaps) a founder (cf. quot. lOE at agin, v.).

One who sets up or institutes for the first time; one who gives its first beginning to (an institution, sect, etc.). Formerly in wider use, an…

One who, or that which, founds, establishes, causes, etc.

= founder, n.1

Something that establishes or supports.

One who stablishes.

One who institutes (see the verb); = institutor, n.

A man regarded as the founder or progenitor of a religious order, institution, or tradition.

One who institutes or establishes; a founder; an organizer.

One who institutes an office, rule, or practice; the founder of an institution; also, one who sets up a candidate or pretender. Obsolete except as…

One who devises or contrives; a contriver, designer; now, usually, One who devises something fictitious or false, a fabricator. †Formerly, also, a…

A woman who founds or endows an institution; a female founder. Cf. foundress, n.1 Obsolete.

Scottish. A founder or establisher. Obsolete.

One who establishes (in senses of the verb).

One who unites in founding; a joint founder.

The founder or popularizer of a church, religion, institution, etc.

A person or thing that institutes; an institutive agent or cause. Obsolete.

(a) One who repairs or renews; a restorer. (b) One who institutes or establishes; a founder.

= institutress, n.

A female institutor.

Chiefly with the and of. A man who founds or is otherwise influential in a (specified) organization, movement, or field. Cf. father, n. 8a.

Associated with or marking the establishment of (something specified); that originated or created. Spec. founding father (frequently with capital…

a person belonging to or associated with the founding of a society or institution.