1. the semantic role of an entity that is not the agent but is directly involved in or affected by the happening denoted by the verb in the clause; [syn: affected role, patient role, patient]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
patient role
n 1: the semantic role of an entity that is not the agent but is
directly involved in or affected by the happening denoted
by the verb in the clause [syn: affected role, patient
role, patient]