Patron

patron
    n 1: a regular customer [syn: {patron}, {frequenter}]
    2: the proprietor of an inn
    3: someone who supports or champions something [syn: {patron},
       {sponsor}, {supporter}]
    

Patron \Pa"tron\, n. [F., fr. L. patronus, fr. pater a father.
   See {Paternal}, and cf. {Patroon}, {Padrone}, {Pattern}.]
   1. One who protects, supports, or countenances; a defender.
      "Patron of my life and liberty." --Shak. "The patron of
      true holiness." --Spenser.
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   2. (Rom. Antiq.)
      (a) A master who had freed his slave, but still retained
          some paternal rights over him.
      (b) A man of distinction under whose protection another
          person placed himself.
      (c) An advocate or pleader.
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                Let him who works the client wrong
                Beware the patron's ire.          --Macaulay.
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   3. One who encourages or helps a person, a cause, or a work;
      a furtherer; a promoter; as, a patron of art.
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   4. (Eccl. Law) One who has gift and disposition of a
      benefice. [Eng.]
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   5. A guardian saint. -- called also {patron saint}.
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   6. (Naut.) See {Padrone}, 2.
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   {Patrons of Husbandry}, the grangers. See {Granger}, 2.
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Patron \Pa"tron\, v. t.
   To be a patron of; to patronize; to favor. [Obs.] --Sir T.
   Browne.
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Patron \Pa"tron\, a.
   Doing the duty of a patron; giving aid or protection;
   tutelary. --Dryden.
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   {Patron saint} (R. C. Ch.), a saint regarded as the peculiar
      protector of a country, community, church, profession,
      etc., or of an individual.
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PATRON, eccl. law. He who has the disposition and gift of an ecclesiastical 
benefice. In the Roman law it signified the former master of a freedman. 
Dig. 2, 4, 8, 1. 
    

184 Moby Thesaurus words for "patron":
      Dionysus, Maecenas, OD, Samaritan, Santa Claus, abettor, admirer,
      advocate, aficionado, aid, aider, almoner, almsgiver, angel,
      apologist, assignor, assister, attender, audience, awarder, backer,
      befriender, benefactor, benefactress, benefiter, bestower,
      boatswain, booster, boss, buff, buyer, bwana, captain, caterer,
      champion, chandler, cheerful giver, chef, chief, chief engineer,
      chief mate, church dignitary, client, commander, commissariat,
      commissary, conferrer, consignor, contributor, customer,
      deck officer, defender, dependence, donator, donor, ecclesiarch,
      elder, employer, encourager, endorser, exponent, fairy godmother,
      fan, favorer, feoffor, financer, frequenter, friend,
      friend at court, funder, furnisher, giver, good Samaritan,
      good person, goodman, grantor, grubstaker, guarantor,
      guardian angel, guru, habitue, haunter, help, helper, helping hand,
      husband, imparter, jack-at-a-pinch, lady bountiful, liege,
      liege lord, lord, lord paramount, lover, mainstay, maintainer,
      manciple, mark, master, mate, meal ticket, merchant,
      ministering angel, ministrant, naval officer, navigating officer,
      navigator, overlord, padrone, paramount, paranymph, partisan,
      paterfamilias, patriarch, patroness, philanthropist, pillar, pipes,
      presenter, promoter, prospect, protagonist, protector, protectress,
      provider, provisioner, purchaser, purveyor, quartermaster, rabbi,
      regular, regular customer, reliance, retailer, rock, safekeeper,
      sahib, sailing master, second, second mate, seconder, sectary,
      seigneur, seignior, settler, shipmaster, sider, skipper, spectator,
      sponsor, staker, stalwart, standby, starets, steward, stock clerk,
      storekeeper, subscriber, succorer, sucker, sugar daddy, supplier,
      support, supporter, surety, sustainer, sutler, sympathizer,
      teacher, testate, testator, testatrix, the Old Man, theatergoer,
      tower, tower of strength, upholder, victualer, visitor, vivandier,
      votary, vouchsafer, watch officer, well-wisher