Definition of "patroonship" in English

noun

1. (US, historical) The position or office of a patroon; landownership (originally of a Dutch colony).

   • 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.