patron
Pluralpatrons
Pluralpatrons
Formspatrons, patroning, patroned
- 1A customer of a particular establishment, such as a store or restaurant.
A longtime patron of the diner, she always orders the same breakfast.
Bar patrons spilled onto the sidewalk when the music ended.
UsageMore formal than customer, and common on notices, as in patron parking.
- 2A person who gives financial, political, or moral support to a person, organization, cause, or activity, especially a wealthy backer of artists or scholars; a protector or champion.
The sculptor found a patron willing to fund a full year of work in marble.
Renaissance patrons commissioned paintings to display their wealth and piety.
UsageCommon in a patron of the arts. The support itself is patronage.
Similarsponsor, backer, benefactor, supporter, champion
- 3A guardian or intercessor, especially a saint regarded as the special protector of a person, place, or occupation.
Saint Cecilia, the patron of musicians, is honored with concerts each November.
The village celebrates its patron with a procession every July.
UsageOften the patron saint of a group or place; patron alone works too.
Note
Latin patronus was built on pater, "father", and the saint is pictured as a fatherly guardian who pleads on someone's behalf.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Latin patronus derives from pater, meaning 'father'. en.wiktionary.org
- Patron saints are regarded as intercessors who plead on someone's behalf. vatican.va
Less common meanings
- 4A person who holds the right to present or appoint a member of the clergy to a church benefice.
The college has been patron of the parish since the sixteenth century, presenting each new rector.
As patron, the duke offered the vacant living to his late chaplain's son.
Note
English church law has its own kind of patron: whoever holds the advowson, the right to put forward a priest for a vacant parish living. The patron presents the candidate, and the bishop makes the appointment. Colleges, the Crown and landed families have all held such rights. A living is said to be "in the gift of" its patron.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- In English church law, the patron holds the advowson, the right to present a candidate for a vacant living. en.wikipedia.org
- The patron presents the candidate and the bishop formally admits the priest by institution. london.anglican.org
- Colleges and the Crown have held advowsons. queens.ox.ac.uk
- Landed families have held advowsons. littlemalvernpriory.co.uk
- A living may be described as being 'in the gift of' its patron. publications.parliament.uk
- 5A property owner, landlord, or master, especially one with authority over tenants or dependents.
Half-a-dozen little boys carried it to the inn, where I had to explain to the patron, in my best Spanish, that we wanted a carriage to go to the baths, seven leagues off.
1879, Annie Allnutt Brassey, A Voyage in the "Sunbeam"Note
A use that survives mainly in writing about foreign or colonial settings. Annie Brassey, in A Voyage in the "Sunbeam" (1878), explains herself "to the patron" of an inn in Chile. Eric O. Ayisi's St. Eustatius, Treasure Island of the Caribbean (1992) uses it for proprietors licensed by the West India Company, the role its doublet patroon named in Dutch colonies. In ordinary modern prose, write owner or landlord.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts
- Annie Brassey wrote A Voyage in the "Sunbeam" and describes explaining her request 'to the patron' of an inn. gutenberg.org
- The book was first published in 1878. openlibrary.org
- The inn was at Cauquenes in Chile; Brassey spoke Spanish to its patron. gutenberg.org
- Eric O. Ayisi wrote the named book. africaworldpressbooks.com
- Ayisi uses 'patrons' for colonial proprietors operating with permission from the West India Company. en.wiktionary.org
- 'Patroon' is a doublet of 'patron'. en.wiktionary.org
- 'Patroon' named a colonial landholding role under the Dutch. en.wikipedia.org
- 6A protector of a dependent person, especially a former master who had freed a slave but retained certain paternal rights over the freedman.
Though legally free, the freedman owed his patron respect, services, and a share of his estate.
When the freedman died without heirs, his patron inherited the property.
Note
Roman law gives the word its most literal shape. The freed slave's former master kept "paternal" rights, so the pater inside patrōnus was more than a metaphor. The freedman's duties had Latin names: obsequium for respect, operae for set services.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- In Roman law, a former master could retain paternal rights over a freed slave. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin patrōnus derives from pater, meaning father. en.wiktionary.org
- The Roman patron–freedman relationship resembled a father–son relationship. penelope.uchicago.edu
- Obsequium designated the respect owed by a freedman to his patron. iuridica.truni.sk
- Operae designated stipulated services owed by a freedman to his patron. en.wikisource.org
- 7To act as a patron to someone or something; to support, patronize, or favor.
a good cause needs not to be patroned by passion
1642, [Thomas Browne], Religio MediciNote
Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1642) holds that "a good cause needs not to be patroned by passion", and the passive there means backed or championed.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Thomas Browne wrote Religio Medici, first published in 1642. becker.wustl.edu
- The first publication year was 1642. becker.wustl.edu
- Browne's work contains the quoted statement. ccel.org
- The passive means supported or championed in this passage. ccel.org
- 8To treat or regard a person as one's patron.
- 9The master of a small trading or fishing vessel, especially in the Mediterranean; a padrone.
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Practice
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Origin
Latin patrōnus, derived from pater ("father"), gave Old French patron, which became Middle English patroun. Padrone, Patronus, patroon and pattern are doublets.