patron
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (3)patrons
- a regular customerSynonyms: frequenterType of customer, clientKinds operagoer, regular
- the proprietor of an innType of owner, proprietorKinds host, innkeeper
- someone who supports or champions somethingSynonyms: sponsorsupporterType of benefactor, helperKinds patroness, angel, godfather, tower of strength, guarantor, godparent
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: F., fr. L. patronus, fr. pater a father. See Paternal, and cf. Patroon, Padrone, Pattern.
1. One who protects, supports, or countenances; a defender. “Patron of my life and liberty.” William Shakespeare “The patron of true holiness.” Edmund Spenser
2. Roman antiquity (a) A master who had freed his slave, but still retained some paternal rights over him. (b) A man of distinction under whose protection another person placed himself. (c) An advocate or pleader.
Let him who works the client wrong Beware the patron's ire.— Thomas Babington Macaulay
3. One who encourages or helps a person, a cause, or a work; a furtherer; a promoter; as, a patron of art.
4. Eccl. Law One who has gift and disposition of a benefice. British
5. A guardian saint. — called also patron saint.
6. Nautical See Padrone, 2.
Patrons of Husbandry, the grangers. See Granger, 2.
To be a patron of; to patronize; to favor. obsolete Sir Thomas Browne
Doing the duty of a patron; giving aid or protection; tutelary. John Dryden
Patron saint Roman Catholic Church, a saint regarded as the peculiar protector of a country, community, church, profession, etc., or of an individual.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54