patron

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English patroun, borrowed from Old French patron (“patron, protector, patron saint”), and directly from Medieval Latin patrōnus (“patron saint, bestower of a benefice; lord, master; model, pattern”),^[2][3][4][5] from patrōnus (“defender, protector, advocate; former master of a freed slave”),^[2][4][3] formed from pater (“father”) and a noun suffix.^[4][6][7] The Latin word was used for one who protects the interests of another, as a father does.^[8] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1113–19, at first for a model or pattern, and also for the holder of a benefice and a patron saint.^[9][4] It is a doublet of pattern and patroon,^{[2][3][7][10]} and is related to father and paternal.^[8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who has the right to present a clergyman to a church living, the holder of the advowson: about 1300.^[4][3][2] Weekley notes that this was the earliest English sense, and that "patron saint" came rather later, in the 14th century.^[10]

Semantic evolution

From the late 14th century the word was used for a patron saint (Trevisa, before 1387), for an advocate or protector in ancient Rome, and for the founder of a religious order;^[4][2] patron saint itself is recorded by 1717.^[2] About 1400 it could mean a lord or master, and an adviser.^[4] A person who supports a cause, an artist or a writer with money or influence is recorded from 1466,^[4] and Etymonline says this sense is clear by about 1600.^[2] Johnson (1755) famously defined a patron as "commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery".^[11][2] The commercial sense, a regular customer of a shop or theatre, appears in Ben Jonson's Volpone (1605–7).^[3][4][2] In Irish English a patron was the festival or fair held on the day of a parish's patron saint,^[4][12] and in North America the Patrons of Husbandry were a farmers' association (1870).^[4] The derivatives also moved toward the commercial: patronage meant regular custom from 1804, and patronize "to treat condescendingly" from 1797.^[3][10]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – the holder of the right to a church living.^[4][3]
• before 1387 – a patron saint; a protector in ancient Rome.^[4]
• c. 1400 – a lord or master.^[4]
• 1466 – a supporter of a person, cause or art.^[4]
• 1605–7 – a regular customer, in Jonson's Volpone.^[3][4]
• 1624 – verb: to act as patron to.^[4]
• 1717 – patron saint.^[2]
• 1841 – (Irish) a patron saint's day.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who supports an artist, writer, charity or cause with money or influence: The duke was a generous patron of the theatre.
2. A customer, especially a regular one, of a shop, restaurant or hotel.
3. A patron saint.
4. (Christianity) A person or body that has the right to present a clergyman to a benefice.
5. (Roman history) A man who protected a client or a freed slave in return for certain services.

Word family

• patronal
• patronless
• patronize
• patron saint

Related words

• patronage
• patroness
• pattern
• patroon
• padrone
• paternal
• patriarch
• matron

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)