patronage
/ˈpætɹənɪd͡ʒ/ noun, verb
Forms patronages patronaging patronaged
- noun The act of providing approval and support; backing; championship. “His vigorous patronage of the conservatives got him in trouble with progressives.”
- noun Customers collectively; clientele; business. “The restaurant had an upper-class patronage.”
- noun The act or state of being a customer of some business. “The restaurant had "Thank you for your patronage!" printed on its take-out bags.”
- noun A communication that indicates lack of respect by patronizing the recipient; condescension; disdain.
- noun (politics) Granting favours or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support.
- noun Guardianship, as of a saint; tutelary care.
- noun The right of nomination to political office.
- noun (UK, law) The right of presentation to church or ecclesiastical benefice; advowson.
- verb (transitive) To support by being a patron of.
- verb (transitive) To be a regular customer or client of; to patronize
Synonyms
support keep going backing backup championship clientele business condescension disdain trade patronize patronise
Etymology
From Middle English patronage, from Old French patronage (modern French patronage). Equivalent to patron + -age. Piecewise doublet of patternage.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Special countenance or support; favor, encouragement, or aid, afforded to a person or a work; as, the patronage of letters; patronage given to an author.
- noun Business custom. [Commercial Cant]
- verb To act as a patron of; to maintain; to defend. [Obs.] Shak.
Etymology [F. patronage. Cf. LL. patronaticum, and L. patronatus.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “patronage”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details