Definition of "clientage" []

• Clients collectively; clientele (noun)
• The condition of being a client (noun)

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• "South African tribes the rich exert their power to subjugate the poor, who hang upon them in a kind of clientage, hoping to receive something."
• "Lines of patronage and clientage were not as simple as the terms might indicate."
• "For an important example, in Afghanistan the institution of hamsaya or clientage creates bonds between prosperous members of any community, such as local khans and castle-holders (qaladars), and various categories of dependents, some of who are culturally distant such as Indians."