minister vs patronage

minister

noun
  • A politician who heads a ministry (national or regional government department for public service). 

  • A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church. 

  • A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument. 

  • In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador. 

verb
  • To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service. 

  • to function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship 

patronage

noun
  • The right of nomination to political office. 

  • The act or state of being a customer of some business. 

  • Customers collectively; clientele; business. 

  • A communication that indicates lack of respect by patronizing the recipient; condescension; disdain. 

  • Granting favours or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support. 

  • The right of presentation to church or ecclesiastical benefice; advowson. 

  • Guardianship, as of a saint; tutelary care. 

  • The act of providing approval and support; backing; championship. 

verb
  • To support by being a patron of. 

  • To be a regular customer or client of; to patronize 

How often have the words minister and patronage occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )