Patronage1. (n.) Special countenance or support; favor, encouragement, or aid, afforded to a person or a work; as, the patronage of letters; patronage given to an author.
2. (n.) Business custom.
3. (n.) Guardianship, as of a saint; tutelary care.
4. (n.) The right of nomination to political office; also, the offices, contracts, honors, etc., which a public officer may bestow by favor.
5. (n.) The right of presentation to church or ecclesiastical benefice.
6. (v. t.) To act as a patron of; to maintain; to defend.
Thesaurus Entries
abetment, administration, advocacy, advocating, advocation, aegis, aid, auspices, backing, benefaction, bias, boosting, business, care, carriage trade, certificate of character, championship, character, character reference, charge, charity, clientage, clientele, condescension, contempt, contumely, countenance, credential, cure, custodianship, custody, custom, deigning, disdain, encouragement, favor, favoritism, favors of office, financing, fosterage, good name, goodwill, governance, government, guardianship, guidance, hands, help, humiliation, interest, jurisdiction, keeping, letter of introduction, management, market, melon, ministry, nepotism, oversight, partiality, pastorage, pastorate, pastorship, patronizing, plum, political patronage, pork, pork barrel, pork-barreling, preference, promotion, protection, protectorship, public, purchasing public, recommend, recommendation, reference, repute, rural market, safe hands, scorn, seconding, spoils system, sponsorship, stewardship, stooping, subsidy, suburban market, superiority, support, sympathy, testimonial, trade, trading, traffic, tutelage, voucher, ward, wardenship, wardship, watch and ward, wing, youth market