Patron

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Patron \Pa"tron\, n. [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." --Shak. "The patron of
        true holiness." --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. (Rom. Antiq.)
        (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.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  Let him who works the client wrong
                  Beware the patron's ire.          --Macaulay.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     3. One who encourages or helps a person, a cause, or a work;
        a furtherer; a promoter; as, a patron of art.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Eccl. Law) One who has gift and disposition of a
        benefice. [Eng.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A guardian saint. -- called also {patron saint}.
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     6. (Naut.) See {Padrone}, 2.
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     {Patrons of Husbandry}, the grangers. See {Granger}, 2.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Patron \Pa"tron\, v. t.
     To be a patron of; to patronize; to favor. [Obs.] --Sir T.
     Browne.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Patron \Pa"tron\, a.
     Doing the duty of a patron; giving aid or protection;
     tutelary. --Dryden.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Patron saint} (R. C. Ch.), a saint regarded as the peculiar
        protector of a country, community, church, profession,
        etc., or of an individual.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  patron
       n 1: a regular customer [syn: {frequenter}]
       2: the proprietor of an inn
       3: someone who supports or champions something [syn: {sponsor},
           {supporter}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  184 Moby Thesaurus words for "patron":
     Dionysus, Maecenas, OD, Samaritan, Santa Claus, abettor, admirer,
     advocate, aficionado, aid, aider, almoner, almsgiver, angel,
     apologist, assignor, assister, attender, audience, awarder, backer,
     befriender, benefactor, benefactress, benefiter, bestower,
     boatswain, booster, boss, buff, buyer, bwana, captain, caterer,
     champion, chandler, cheerful giver, chef, chief, chief engineer,
     chief mate, church dignitary, client, commander, commissariat,
     commissary, conferrer, consignor, contributor, customer,
     deck officer, defender, dependence, donator, donor, ecclesiarch,
     elder, employer, encourager, endorser, exponent, fairy godmother,
     fan, favorer, feoffor, financer, frequenter, friend,
     friend at court, funder, furnisher, giver, good Samaritan,
     good person, goodman, grantor, grubstaker, guarantor,
     guardian angel, guru, habitue, haunter, help, helper, helping hand,
     husband, imparter, jack-at-a-pinch, lady bountiful, liege,
     liege lord, lord, lord paramount, lover, mainstay, maintainer,
     manciple, mark, master, mate, meal ticket, merchant,
     ministering angel, ministrant, naval officer, navigating officer,
     navigator, overlord, padrone, paramount, paranymph, partisan,
     paterfamilias, patriarch, patroness, philanthropist, pillar, pipes,
     presenter, promoter, prospect, protagonist, protector, protectress,
     provider, provisioner, purchaser, purveyor, quartermaster, rabbi,
     regular, regular customer, reliance, retailer, rock, safekeeper,
     sahib, sailing master, second, second mate, seconder, sectary,
     seigneur, seignior, settler, shipmaster, sider, skipper, spectator,
     sponsor, staker, stalwart, standby, starets, steward, stock clerk,
     storekeeper, subscriber, succorer, sucker, sugar daddy, supplier,
     support, supporter, surety, sustainer, sutler, sympathizer,
     teacher, testate, testator, testatrix, the Old Man, theatergoer,
     tower, tower of strength, upholder, victualer, visitor, vivandier,
     votary, vouchsafer, watch officer, well-wisher
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PATRON, eccl. law. He who has the disposition and gift of an ecclesiastical 
  benefice. In the Roman law it signified the former master of a freedman. 
  Dig. 2, 4, 8, 1.