patronage
/ˈpætrənɪdʒ/, /ˈpeɪtrənɪdʒ/ noun [U]Definition
› COMMERCE the business given to a shop, restaurant, hotel, etc. by its customers: Many wealthy Japanese have shifted their patronage to the new Western luxury hotels.
› support given to a public organization, especially by giving money: The company is famous for its arts patronage.
› disapproving a situation in which a person gives someone an important job or position in return for their support: They plan to abolish patronage and place the appointment of senior law officers in the hands of an independent appointments board.
(Definition of patronage noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
Our dictionaries
Browse the Thesaurus
Browse the Dictionary
Word of the Day
be under a cloud
to not be trusted or popular because people think you have done something bad
Blog
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
New Words
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.
