padrone
a master; boss.
an employer, especially of immigrant laborers, who provides communal housing and eating arrangements, controls the allocation of pay, etc., in a manner that exploits the workers.
an innkeeper.
Origin of padrone
1Other words from padrone
- pa·dro·nism [puh-droh-niz-uhm], /pəˈdroʊ nɪz əm/, noun
Words Nearby padrone
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use padrone in a sentence
Zelphine has just been talking to the padrone, who speaks excellent English, about the excursion to-morrow.
Italian Days and Ways | Anne Hollingsworth WhartonThe padrone asks us, in case we decide to drive, whether we will give a seat in our carriage to the odd number.
Italian Days and Ways | Anne Hollingsworth WhartonTheir spirit of mutual helpfulness saved them from padrone, "banker," and Black Hand.
The Old World in the New | Edward Alsworth RossIt seems that sometimes, though rarely, it pleases them to pretend to believe that their padrone has displeased them.
Castellinaria | Henry Festing JonesA waif like himself, a lost baby whom he found on the road being cruelly beaten by a brute of an Italian padrone.
Pippin; A Wandering Flame | Laura E. Richards
British Dictionary definitions for padrone
/ (pəˈdrəʊnɪ) /
the owner or proprietor of an inn, esp in Italy
US an employer who completely controls his workers, esp a man who exploits Italian immigrants in the US
Origin of padrone
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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