Word.ws English Dictionary

padrino system

padrino system noun: corruption involving patronage, nepotism and favoritism, especially in politics and government.

Noun

padrino system (uncountable)

  1. (Philippine, Philippines) corruption involving patronage, nepotism and favoritism, especially in politics and government
    • The Padrino System. The padrino plays an Important role in the Filipino family system. A padrino or godfather and a madrina or godmother for the child are chosen by the parents. A godparent should have several qualities. He should be of ...1969, Benicio T. Catapusan, Flora E. Diaz-Catapusan, Philippine Problems
    • At least 70% of the respondents acknowledged the existence of the "padrino system" in the company. This padrino or compadre system is a Filipino value which is very common.1988, Tomas Quintin D. Andres, Negotiating by Filipino Values

Origin of padrino system

From Tagalog padrino (“godfather”) + system, alluding to the compadrazgo system practiced by Filipino families.

Questions about padrino system

What does padrino system mean?
Padrino system means corruption involving patronage, nepotism and favoritism, especially in politics and government.
What part of speech is padrino system?
Padrino system is a noun.

Words near padrino system in the dictionary

  1. Padre Garcia
  2. Padre Zamora
  3. Padrenda
  4. padres
  5. padri
  6. padrino system
  7. Padro
  8. Padroadist
  9. Padroadists
  10. Padroado
  11. Padron

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: padrino system (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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