patroonship

English

Etymology

From patroon +‎ -ship. Compare Dutch patroonschap.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pəˈtɹuːnʃɪp/

Noun

patroonship (countable and uncountable, plural patroonships)

1. (US, historical) The position or office of a patroon; landownership (originally of a Dutch colony).
   • 1809, Washington Irving, A History of New York:

     His patroonship of Rensellaerwick lay immediately below Fort Aurania, and extended for several miles on each side of the Hudson, beside embracing the mountainous region of the Helderberg.

   • 2003 (revised), Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States, HarperCollins 2005, p. 211:

     It was a protest against the patroonship system, which went back to the 1600s when the Dutch ruled New York, a system where […] ‘a few families, intricately intermarried, controlled the destinies of three hundred thousand people and ruled in almost kingly splendor near two million acres of land.’

2. (US, historical) An estate run by a patroon, or under a similar system. [from 19th c.]