a person who is a customer, client, or paying guest, especially a regular one, of a store, hotel, or the like.
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.
a person whose support or protection is solicited or acknowledged by the dedication of a book or other work.
Roman History. the protector of a dependent or client, often the former master of a freedman still retaining certain rights over him.
Ecclesiastical. a person who has the right of presenting a member of the clergy to a benefice.
a person, esp a man, who sponsors or aids artists, charities, etc; protector or benefactor
a customer of a shop, hotel, etc, esp a regular one
See patron saint
(in ancient Rome) the protector of a dependant or client, often the former master of a freedman still retaining certain rights over him
Christianity a person or body having the right to present a clergyman to a benefice
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
First recorded in 1860–65; from Spanish; see patron ( def. )
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.
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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.
“Yes, but we’re moving up,” Cuevas replied, clutching a Mexican flag emblazoned with St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost causes.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2026
Here the enduring wisdom of Indian spiritual philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, Ojai’s informal patron saint, serves even to hold a recent incursion of ultra-rich to account.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026
She became a life peer in the 2010 Dissolution Honours List and is also patron of an animal welfare charity.
From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026
Danielle Allen’s excellent book “Radical Duke” builds on these discoveries and makes a further claim: that Paine, and a cohort of other radical writers, wrote at the behest of a singular, powerful aristocratic patron.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Although I hadn’t yet chosen St. Sebastian as my patron saint, he must have been working overtime, because I felt hardly any pain in my ankle after surgery.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
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.
