What does patriot mean and where does it originate?

Hello.

"Patriot" means a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country.

The word comes into the English language from the French word
"patriote," which came from the Latin word "patriota," which came from
the Greek word "patriotes," which meant "a fellow countryman."

The Greek "Patriotes" derived from the Greek "patrios" which meant "of
one's forefathers."


sources:
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
http://www.bartleby.com/61/61/P0116100.html

Webster's English Dictionary
http://www.math.chalmers.se/~hallgren/wget.cgi?patriot

HyperDictionary
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/patriot

English Faculty
http://learningat.ke7.org.uk/english/ks5/Patriot/suggestions1.htm

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search strategy:
"word patriot comes from"
patriot, patrios

I hope this helps.

just fyi
in latin i believe the root of this word is patri
which means father
and the root word patricia or patricius 
means fatherland
its probably the same in greek

i took latin for 3 years (but its been a while).

The specific derivation of 'patriot' is detailed above. As indicated,
the Greek "patriotes" is generally cited as the origin of the word
'patriot.'

But, yes, Delilah, the root IS the same in both Latin and Greek.  

In fact, 'pater' is a basic Indo-European root meaning 'father' in
many languages. See: Proto-Indo-European Roots
http://www.geocities.com/indoeurop/project/phonetics/word33.html

yeah,
i actually read your sources, and i know the root.
the romans stole more than language from the greeks, and the greeks
stole much of their alphabet (and probably some of their words, not
this one though) from hebrew.
but, i just wanted to comment, because i thought the "fatherland" root
word was important, similar to "of one's forefathers"...
anyway, take care