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Glite Dictionary
👥 Clients served 🤝 Client relationship
clientship

clientship

9.7
A social relationship where a person depends on a more powerful person
  • noun
  • /ˈklaɪəntʃɪp/
translation icon : clientelismo
  • The historian explained how clientship influenced political alliances in early societies.

Examples

  • The concept of clientship was crucial in ancient Rome.

  • Social mobility was often determined by one's clientship with influential families.

  • In ancient Rome, clientship defined the bond between powerful patrons and their dependents.

  • In her thesis, she explored the clientship dynamics of Roman society.

  • In ancient Rome, the system of clientship defined the duties and protections between a patron and their clients.

  • The concept of clientship played a crucial role in understanding social structures of historical societies.

  • Historically, clientship indicated the reliance of a lower-status individual on the patronage of a more powerful person.

Synonyms

clientage
vsclientship
  • Archaic
9.9

A social system where powerful people give protection or help to people who depend on them

refers to the status of being a dependent in historical patron systems

Surface Forms

clientship singular
clientships plural

Morphology

clientship = client (transparent) = client + ship

The sense denotes the status or relationship of being a client, a regular abstract meaning of '-ship' added to 'client'.

Etymology

Clientship goes back to an old Roman idea where a client, from Latin 'cliens', was someone who relied on a more powerful protector and received help in return, and the ending -ship shows a 'relationship' like in friendship. So clientship can mean the special status or bond of being a client, especially in historical or social settings.