patron (n.)
- abettor
- admirer
- advocate
- aficionado
- aid
- aider
- almoner
- almsgiver
- angel
- apologist
- assignor
- attender
- audience
- backer
- benefactor
- benefactress
- bestower
- boatswain
- booster
- boss
- buff
- buyer
- captain
- caterer
- champion
- chandler
- chef
- chief
- client
- commander
- commissariat
- commissary
- conferrer
- consignor
- contributor
- customer
- defender
- dependence
- donor
- elder
- employer
- endorser
- exponent
- fan
- frequenter
- friend
- giver
- goodman
- grantor
- guarantor
- guru
- habitue
- help
- helper
- husband
- liege
- lord
- lover
- mainstay
- maintainer
- mark
- master
- mate
- merchant
- ministrant
- navigator
- overlord
- padrone
- partisan
- paterfamilias
- patriarch
- patroness
- philanthropist
- pillar
- presenter
- promoter
- prospect
- protagonist
- protector
- provider
- provisioner
- purchaser
- purveyor
- quartermaster
- rabbi
- regular
- reliance
- retailer
- rock
- sahib
- second
- seconder
- sectary
- seigneur
- seignior
- settler
- sider
- skipper
- spectator
- sponsor
- stalwart
- standby
- starets
- steward
- storekeeper
- subscriber
- succorer
- sucker
- supplier
- support
- supporter
- surety
- sustainer
- sutler
- sympathizer
- teacher
- testate
- testator
- testatrix
- theatergoer
- tower
- upholder
- victualer
- visitor
- votary
- well-wisher
There mark what ills the scholar's life assail,—
Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.
Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground encumbers him with help?
