Etymology From Middle English patroun, patrone, from Old French patron, from Latin patrōnus, derived from pater (“father”). Doublet of padrone, Patronus, patroon, and pattern.
One who protects or supports; a defender or advocate.
patron of my life and libertyc. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
the patron of true holiness1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
1 more example
Let him who works the client wrong beware the patron’s ire!1834–1838 (date written), Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Virginia”, in Lays of Ancient Rome, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 154:
2
A guardian or intercessor; synonym of patron saint.
St. Joseph is the patron of many different places.
3
An influential, wealthy person who supported an artist, craftsman, a scholar or a noble.
4
A customer, as of a certain store or restaurant.
This car park is for patrons only.
In our trial of the AOT, a transect was used to collect data about the languages being spoken by patrons of the NIE cafeteria during lunchtimes.2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:
5
LawRoman, Historical A protector of a dependent, especially a master who had freed a slave but still retained some paternal rights.
Historical, Obsolete A property owner, a landlord, a master. (Compare patroon.)
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.1879, Annie Allnutt Brassey, A Voyage in the "Sunbeam", page 170:
[...] would obtain permission from the West India Company to settle in certain areas in the New World and cultivate the land. Sometimes absentee patrons would give the colony to a group of interested persons and the patrons would finance ...1992, Eric O. Ayisi, St. Eustatius, Treasure Island of the Caribbean:
Etymology From Middle English patroun, patrone, from Old French patron, from Latin patrōnus, derived from pater (“father”). Doublet of padrone, Patronus, patroon, and pattern.
1
Obsolete To be a patron of; to patronize; to favour.
a good cause needs not to be patroned by passion1642, [Thomas Browne], “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC: