Patroonships

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A system of land grants and agricultural partnerships established by Dutch settlers in colonial America
2. The arrangement involved wealthy landowners granting land to individuals in exchange for labor and a share of the profits
3. A hierarchical structure where a patroon, or landowner, exerted control over a large estate, fostering settlement and economic development in the New World

Etymology: The plural form of "patroonship" is simply the regular plural of a noun that names the system of land grants that Dutch settlers set up in colonial America. The base noun, "patroon," came into English from Dutch "patroon," a word for a patron or protector, and the suffix "-ship" (from Old English "-scipe," meaning state, condition or office) was added to it to form "patroonship," the rank or system of a patroon. Dutch has a near-identical formation, "patroonschap," so the English word follows the same pattern as its source language. The word is a piecewise doublet of "patronship," meaning that the two English words share a common Latin ancestor, "patronus," but reached English by different routes. "Patronship" came through the general Latin-to-French-to-English channel for "patron," while "patroon" arrived through Dutch, which was the language of the colonists who gave the system its name. The result is two related English words for the same underlying idea of protection and sponsorship, one shaped by French and the other by the Dutch colonial world of New Netherland.