patronage
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The business given to a commercial establishment by its customers.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
patruhnijSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpætɹənɪdʒ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The business given to a commercial establishment by its customers
“Even before noon there was a considerable patronage.”
The act or state of being a customer of some business.
Customers collectively; clientele; business.
The act of providing approval and support; backing; championship.
A communication that indicates lack of respect by patronizing the recipient
The right of nomination to political office.
verb
Support by being a patron of
Be a regular customer or client of
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The business given to a commercial establishment by its customers
Used this way, patronage is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.
“Even before noon there was a considerable patronage.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: support by being a patron of
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.