patron
/ˈpeɪ.tɹən/
"patron" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“patron” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,744 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,744
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who protects or supports; a defender or advocate.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | patron |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpeɪ.tɹən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #10,744 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “patron” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for patron is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpeɪ.tɹən/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,744 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for patron, with forms such as "aptron", "patorn", and "patrno". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Python", "petrol", "Patton", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English patroun, patrone, from Old French patron, from Latin patrōnus, derived from pater (“father”). Doublet of padrone, Patronus, patroon, and pattern. The correct English form is patron, spelled P-A-T-R-O-N.
Definition
- 1One who protects or supports; a defender or advocate.
- 2One who protects or supports; a defender or advocate.
- 3An influential, wealthy person who supported an artist, craftsman, a scholar or a noble.
- 4A customer, as of a certain store or restaurant.
- 5A protector of a dependent, especially a master who had freed a slave but still retained some paternal rights.
- 6One who has gift and disposition of a benefice.
- 7A padrone.
- 8A property owner, a landlord, a master. (Compare patroon.)
Etymology
From Middle English patroun, patrone, from Old French patron, from Latin patrōnus, derived from pater (“father”). Doublet of padrone, Patronus, patroon, and pattern.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aptron,patorn,patrno,patronn,patrron,pattron,ppatron,ptaron
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of patron - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “patron”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-T-R-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpeɪ.tɹən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Python” - see the side-by-side comparison. patron vs Python
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.