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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

patronage.

The act of providing approval and support; backing; championship.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpeɪtɹənɪd͡ʒ//ˈpætɹənɪd͡ʒ/Ireland, UK, also

  1. The act of providing approval and support; backing; championship.

    countable · uncountable
    His vigorous patronage of the conservatives got him in trouble with progressives.

  2. Customers collectively; clientele; business.

    countable · uncountable
    The restaurant had an upper-class patronage.

  3. The act or state of being a customer of some business.

    countable · uncountable
    The restaurant had "Thank you for your patronage!" printed on its take-out bags.

  4. A communication that indicates lack of respect by patronizing the recipient; condescension; disdain.

    countable · uncountable

  5. Granting favours or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support.

    countable · uncountable

  6. Guardianship, as of a saint; tutelary care.

    countable · uncountable

  7. The right of nomination to political office.

    countable · uncountable

  8. The right of presentation to church or ecclesiastical benefice; advowson.

    UK · countable · uncountable

  9. Patronising speech or behaviour.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English patronage, from Old French patronage (modern French patronage). Equivalent to patron + -age. Piecewise doublet of patternage.

verb/ˈpeɪtɹənɪd͡ʒ//ˈpætɹənɪd͡ʒ/Ireland, UK, also

  1. To support by being a patron of.

    transitive

  2. To be a regular customer or client of; to patronize

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English patronage, from Old French patronage (modern French patronage). Equivalent to patron + -age. Piecewise doublet of patternage.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.