Patronize
/ˈpeɪtɹənaɪz/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo act as a patron of; to defend, protect, or support.
verbTo make oneself a customer of a business, especially a regular customer.
Sentence Examples
You don't need to patronize me.
You don't have to patronize me.
Don't patronize me under the guise of concern.
CEFR Practice Quiz
I hate it when adults ____ me by speaking in a baby voice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She refused to ____ businesses that did not treat their workers fairly and ethically.
Word Origin & History
From patron + -ize (verb ending); or from Old French patroniser, from Medieval Latin patronizāre (“to lead a galley as patron”). Piecewise doublet of patternize.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A great perſonage aſked lord S——h, how the citizens came to patronize ſuch a profligate as Wilkes. His lordſhip replied, "They would patronize the devil, if he aſſiſted them to pull down a miniſter.""
— [1773], [Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield], Lord Chesterfield’s Witticisms; or, The Grand Pantheon of Genius, Sentiment, and Taste. …, London: Printed for Richard Snagg, […]; J. Mariner, […], →OCLC, pages 73–74:
"But she is totally devoid of elegant accomplishments, excepting the knowledge of French and Italian, which she acquired from the most grotesque monster you ever beheld, whom my father has engaged as a kind of librarian, and whom he patronizes, I believe, to show his defiance of the world's opinion."
— 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 120:
"We ask her [the government] to patronize scholars as she does her law makers. We ask her to patronize pioneers in science as she does pioneers in the woods. We ask her to support the officers of colleges as she does the officers of state, her governor, her secretary, and her judges; and then the college hall may be thrown open as it should be to every poor youth in the community free of expense."
— 1838, A[bednego] Stephens, Address to the Alumni Society of Nashville University, on the Influence of Institutions for High Letters on the Mental and Moral Character of the Nation, and the Obligation of Government to Endow and Sustain Them, Nashville, Tenn.: Printed by B. R. McKennie, →OCLC; quoted in The New York Review, volume IV, number VII, New York, N.Y.: Published by the proprietors, […], and by A[lexander] V. Blake, […], January 1839, →OCLC, page 264:
"I can't go anywhere without being Patronized. I don't want to be Patronized. If I buy a ticket for a Flower Show, or a Music Show, or any sort of Show, and pay pretty heavy for it, why am I to be Patroned and Patronessed as if the Patrons and Patronesses treated me? If there's a good thing to be done, can't it be done on its own merits? [...] I wish somebody would tell me whether other countries get Patronized to anything like the extent of this one!"
— 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “Strong of Purpose”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, 2nd book (Birds of a Feather), pages 297–298:
"In those days, as now, the Royal Naval Colleges as well as Sandhurst were well patronised by the squirearchy and the youths of the blue-blood who found in the training there a congenial calling, when they were not satisfied with military training as a hobby. [...] The attraction of military and naval life was enhanced by the fact that the Royal family patronised it."
— 1920, “From Birth to Parliament”, in Josiah C. Wedgwood: The Man and His Work, Triplicane, Madras, India: S. Ganesan & Co., →OCLC, page 4:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
I hate it when adults ____ me by speaking in a baby voice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She refused to ____ businesses that did not treat their workers fairly and ethically.