Definition of "patroon" []

• A landholder in New Netherland who, under Dutch colonial rule, was granted proprietary and manorial rights to a large tract of land in exchange for bringing 50 new settlers to the colony. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Holders of Dutch grants bore the title patroon, or patron."
• ""He says," announced the Swiss, "that he is cousin and agent of the seignior they call the patroon, and his name is Van Corlaer.""
• "A patroon was a landholder who was granted one of these great estates in exchange for bringing fifty new settlers into the colony."