a person who loves, supports, and defends their country and its interests with devotion.
a person who values individual rights, especially one who attempts to defend those rights against presumed interference by the federal government.
Military. Patriot, a U.S. Army antiaircraft missile with a range of 37 miles (60 kilometers) and a 200-pound (90-kilogram) warhead, launched from a tracked vehicle with radar and computer guidance and fire control.
First recorded in 1570–80; from Middle French patriote, from Late Latin patriōta, from Greek patriṓtēs “fellow-countryman, lineage member (in the paternal line)”
How does patriot compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
A patriot is someone who loves and who has sometimes fought for his or her country. “Nathan Hale was a true patriot; his only regret was that he had but one life to give for his country.” The word patriot comes from patrios (Greek, not Latin for once), which means "of one’s father." So, despite various references to the motherland, the word patriot more or less lands us square in the fatherland arena. And if you’re a football fan, the New England Patriots is a near-Boston-based team (Boston being a major source of American patriots in the Revolutionary War). And, if you want to get yourself in trouble, you can wander Boston with a megaphone chanting, “The Patriots stink.”
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pentagon officials this year reached an agreement with Lockheed Martin to more than triple production of the latest Patriot interceptor model, the PAC-3 MSE, to about 2,000 a year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
He wrote to US President Donald Trump and the US Congress last week asking for Patriot systems to respond to the intensifying Russian air attacks.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
Brodie Sutherland, CEO of Nevada-based tungsten mining company Patriot Critical Minerals, said his firm hired a lobbyist.
From Salon • May 31, 2026
The West then helped bolster its defences – with expensive, more sophisticated systems including Patriot air defence missiles.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
“Master Lockton claimed he was a Patriot on the docks.”
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
