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Definition of patrondom - 2 dictionary results

pa⋅tron

  [pey-truhn]
Use patrondom in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who is a customer, client, or paying guest, esp. a regular one, of a store, hotel, or the like.
2. a person who supports with money, gifts, efforts, or endorsement an artist, writer, museum, cause, charity, institution, special event, or the like: a patron of the arts; patrons of the annual Democratic dance.
3. a person whose support or protection is solicited or acknowledged by the dedication of a book or other work.
4. patron saint.
5. Roman History. the protector of a dependent or client, often the former master of a freedman still retaining certain rights over him.
6. Ecclesiastical. a person who has the right of presenting a member of the clergy to a benefice.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < ML, L patrōnus legal protector, advocate (ML: lord, master), der. of pater father. See pattern

Related forms:
pa⋅tron⋅al, pa⋅tron⋅ly, adjective
pa⋅tron⋅dom, pa⋅tron⋅ship, noun
pa⋅tron⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

patron 
"a lord-master, a protector," c.1300, from O.Fr. patrun (12c.), from M.L. patronus "patron saint, bestower of a benefice, lord, master, model, pattern," from L. patronus "defender, protector, advocate," from pater (gen. patris) "father." Meaning "one who advances the cause" (of an artist, institution, etc.), usually by the person's wealth and power, is attested from 1377; "commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery" [Johnson]. Commercial sense of "regular customer" first recorded 1605.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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