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• patron
  patron

  noun

  a person who is a customer, client, or paying guest, especially a regular one, of a store, hotel, or the like.
• patrón
  patrón

  noun

  (in Mexico and the southwestern U.S.) a boss; employer.

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The Medici were famous patrons in which Italian city?

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patron

¹ American  

[pay-truhn] / ˈpeɪ trən /

noun

• patrons
  plural

1. a person who is a customer, client, or paying guest, especially 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.

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patrón ² American  

[pah-trawn] / pɑˈtrɔn /

noun

Spanish.

• patrones
  plural

1. (in Mexico and the southwestern U.S.) a boss; employer.

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patron ¹ British  

/ ˈpeɪtrən /

noun

1. a person, esp a man, who sponsors or aids artists, charities, etc; protector or benefactor

2. a customer of a shop, hotel, etc, esp a regular one

3. See patron saint

4. (in ancient Rome) the protector of a dependant or client, often the former master of a freedman still retaining certain rights over him

5. Christianity a person or body having the right to present a clergyman to a benefice

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patron ² British  

/ patrɔ̃ /

noun

1. a man, who owns or manages a hotel, restaurant, or bar

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patron ³ British  

/ ˈpætərn /

noun

1. a variant spelling of pattern 2

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• patrondom
  noun
• patronship
  noun
• patronal
  adjective
• patronless
  adjective
• patronly
  adjective
• subpatronal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• patrones
  plural
• patrons
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of patron¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Medieval Latin, Latin patrōnus “legal protector, advocate” ( Medieval Latin: “lord, master”), derivative of pater “father”; see pattern

Origin of patrón²

First recorded in 1860–65; from Spanish; see patron ( def. )

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Explanation

A patron supports someone or something. A patron of a business supports the business by being a loyal customer. A patron of the arts helps support starving artists — financially, not with food rations. The word patron comes from the Latin pater or patr- meaning "father." Think of how a father is supposed to financially support his kids. A patron of the arts is someone who shows his appreciation or support for the arts by donating money to arts organizations. And a patron of the Red Lobster is a frequent customer who can be seen in the same corner booth every Sunday night, noshing on cheddar biscuits.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

patron patrón patrones patrons

That Friday night, only one patron came through, and so Keket closed early.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

Navatek considered Graham its chief patron in South Carolina, internal records show, just as it viewed Collins in Maine.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

The Catholic Church is trying to allay fears regarding Our Lady's patron saint status, granted by the pope in 1930.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

Shortly after, at a small neighborhood restaurant I raced down a 30 mph road to get to, nearly every patron craned their necks to look.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

I sure don’t know what patron means, but I like the way it sounds.

From "Finding Langston" by Lesa Cline-Ransome

The year she was killed, Blanco was played by Luces Velásquez in the Colombian telenovela “Pablo Escobar, el patrón del mal.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2024

At first the company’s cash payments, infrastructure projects and job offers seemed like a good alternative to the old way of life under a land-owning patrón.

From Washington Post

Benito's patrón would not welcome us with empty pockets.

From Rebel Spurs by Andre Norton

Polo pros and local patrones describe Villegas as a good-natured man who never lost his temper, even during rough-and-tumble matches.

From Time Magazine Archive

Villegas and Cummings met two years ago at the Willow Run Polo school, a magnet for the Argentine players, many of whom are boarded on farms owned by the people they call their patrones.

From Time Magazine Archive

But of the xii. other vertues I make xii. other knights the patrones, for the more variety of the history: of which these three bookes contayn three.

From Prefaces and Prologues to Famous Books with Introductions, Notes and Illustrations by Charles William Eliot

But of the xii. other vertues, I 130 make xii. other knights the patrones, for the more variety 131 of the history: Of which these three bookes contayn three.

From The Faerie Queene — Volume 01 by Edmund Spenser

Whilest they and their patrones for them, require dominion and empire aboue men.

From The First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous regiment of Women by Edward Arber

At the Los Angeles Zoo, patrons can bring a picture of their late companion animals to display on a community altar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026

To keep customers coming, his pub holds ancient wassailing rituals, where hundreds of patrons fire shotguns and throw stones into orchards to ward off evil spirits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

But overall, the prevailing narrative was that seeing “The Devils,” in this format and with a full crowd of fervent patrons, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

Fiery arguments have broken out among patrons at Rock's Family Diner in the Aroostook frontier town of Fort Kent.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

At any given performance, only half the patrons were there for the actual opera.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

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Related Words

• advocate
• backer
• benefactor
• fan
• friend
• leader
• philanthropist
• sponsor
• supporter
• well-wisher

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