patroon

noun

pa·​troon pə-ˈtrün 

1

archaic : the captain or officer commanding a ship

2

[Dutch, from French patron] : the proprietor of a manorial estate especially in New York originally granted under Dutch rule but in some cases existing until the mid-19th century

Examples of patroon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nicholas is a patroon—that is, a landowner descended from New York’s seventeenth-century Dutch settlers, who, in this period, were still allowed to run their estates on a quasi-feudal system. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2023

Word History

Etymology

French patron & Spanish patrón, from Medieval Latin patronus, from Latin, patron

First Known Use

1719, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

patroon

noun

pa·​troon pə-ˈtrün 

: a landowner of a large estate in New York or New Jersey granted by the Dutch