I.a public ξένος, public guest or friend, made so by an act of the State, such as was the King of Macedon to the Athenians, Hdt.; —the word expressed the same relation between a State and an individual of another State, that ξένος expressed between individuals of different States.—The πρόξενος enjoyed his privileges on the condition of entertaining and assisting the ambassadors and citizens of the State which he represented, so that the πρόξενοι answered to our Consuls, Agents, Residents, though the πρόξενος was always a member of the foreign State.
II.generally, a patron, protector, Aesch.: as fem. a patroness, Soph.
