Patriot

//ˈpeɪ.tɹi.ət// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who loves and zealously supports and defends their country.

    "Here Tears ſhall flovv from a more gen'rous Cauſe, / Such Tears as Patriots ſhed for dying Lavvs: […]"

  2. 2
    An individual Patriot missile. informal
  3. 3
    one who loves and defends his or her country wordnet
  4. 4
    A fellow countryman, a compatriot. archaic

    "The aim of patriots, therefore, was to set limits to the power which the ruler should be allowed to exercise over the community."

  5. 5
    A person who was in favor of American Independence from Britain during the American Revolution. US, historical
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Synonym of Patriote (A devolution-of-power supporter in Lower Canada during the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-1838 (Patriots' War).) Canada, historical
  2. 7
    A devolution-of-power supporter in Upper Canada during the Canadian Rebellions of 1837-1838 (Patriot War). Canada, historical
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surface-to-air missile system. US
  2. 2
    A member of the New England Patriots professional football team.

Example

More examples

"No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle French patriote, from Late Latin patriōta (“fellow countryman”) from the Ancient Greek πατριώτης (patriṓtēs, “of the same country”), from πατρίς (patrís, “father land", "country”), from πατήρ (patḗr, “father”).

Etymology 2

Capitalization of patriot.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.