means A person or device that receives something — a player who catches a thrown ball, the part of a phone you listen through, an electronic unit that picks up and decodes a signal, or a person appointed to take charge of someone else's property.

from From the verb 'receive,' which entered English through Old French 'receivre,' from Latin 'recipere' — built from 're-' (back) and 'capere' (to take or seize). So a receiver is literally one who 'takes back' or takes in: the same Latin 'capere' that gives us 'capture' and 'capable.' The '-er' agent suffix simply names the one (or thing) doing the receiving.