pa·tron / ˈpātrən/ • n. 1. a person who gives financial or other support to a person, organization, cause, or activity: Charles became a patron of Rubens and van Dyck | a celebrated patron of the arts.2. a customer, esp. a regular one, of a store, restaurant, or theater: we surveyed the plushness of the hotel and its sleek, well-dressed patrons.3. short for patron saint.4. (in ancient Rome) a patrician in relation to a client. See also client (sense 3). ∎  (in ancient Rome) the former owner and (frequently) protector of a freed slave.5. Brit., chiefly hist. a person or institution with the right to grant a benefice to a member of the clergy.

patron holder of an advowson; tutelary saint; protector, upholder XIV; (in various uses repr. Rom. ones) †captain or master of a galley, etc. XV. — (O)F. — L. patrōnus protector of clients, advocate, defender; (colloq.) affectionate term of address, f. pater, patr- FATHER.
So patronage XV. — (O)F. patronal XVII. — F. or L. patroness XV. patronize XVI. — †F. or medL.