Etymology

patronize

pa·tron·ize
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Today it means: To act as a patron of; to defend, protect, or support. Full definition →

Old French patroniser ← Medieval Latin patronizāre
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived frompatronizāre“to lead a galley as patron”
  2. Old French · derived frompatroniser
  3. English todaypatronize

From patron + -ize (verb ending); or from Old French patroniser, from Medieval Latin patronizāre (“to lead a galley as patron”). Piecewise doublet of patternize.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.