Patron
//ˈpeɪ.tɹən// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 One who protects or supports; a defender or advocate.
"patron of my life and liberty"
- 2 a regular customer wordnet
- 3 One who protects or supports; a defender or advocate.; A guardian or intercessor; synonym of patron saint.
"St. Joseph is the patron of many different places."
- 4 someone who supports or champions something wordnet
- 5 An influential, wealthy person who supported an artist, craftsman, a scholar or a noble.
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 the proprietor of an inn wordnet
- 7 A customer, as of a certain store or restaurant.
"This car park is for patrons only."
- 8 A protector of a dependent, especially a master who had freed a slave but still retained some paternal rights. Roman, historical
- 9 One who has gift and disposition of a benefice. UK
- 10 A padrone.
- 11 A property owner, a landlord, a master. (Compare patroon.) historical, obsolete
"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."
Verb
- 1 To be a patron of; to patronize; to favour. obsolete, transitive
"a good cause needs not to be patroned by passion"
- 2 To treat as a patron. obsolete, transitive
Example
More examples"The patron appreciates genuine antiques."
Etymology
From Middle English patroun, patrone, from Old French patron, from Latin patrōnus, derived from pater (“father”). Doublet of padrone, Patronus, patroon, and pattern.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.