Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) One who protects, supports, or countenances; a defender.

2. (n.) A master who had freed his slave, but still retained some paternal rights over him.

3. (n.) A man of distinction under whose protection another person placed himself.

4. (n.) An advocate or pleader.

5. (n.) One who encourages or helps a person, a cause, or a work; a furtherer; a promoter; as, a patron of art.

6. (n.) One who has gift and disposition of a benefice.

7. (n.) A guardian saint. -- called also patron saint.

8. (n.) See Padrone, 2.

9. (v. t.) To be a patron of; to patronize; to favor.

10. (a.) Doing the duty of a patron; giving aid or protection; tutelary.