Is there a difference in meaning when pronouncing paytronizing or pahtronizing?

I am not a native speaker, and I was recently corrected when pronouncing patronizing "paytronizing" when meaning condescending. I was told it is wrong to pronounce it that way; however, after looking it in dictionaries, I found both pronunciations to be accepted and no information on differences in usage. Should I stop pronouncing it paytronizing? Does it have a different connotation/denotation when using one or the other pronunciation?

Solution 1:

As far as I know, /paytronizing/ is mainly American, /pahtronizing/ is British. Note that it is (usually?) written patronising with an s in British. I believe there is no commonly recognised distinction in meaning between the two pronunciations, as in /pay-/ meaning "condescending" v. /pah-/ for other senses, though some might disagree.

Solution 2:

The copies of the NOAD and ODE I had on my Mac Mini said that the pronunciation of patronize is /ˈpeɪtrəˌnaɪz/, /ˈpætrəˌnaɪz/ when using the American English IPA, and /ˈpætrənʌɪz/ when using the British English IPA; the first is the pronunciation in American English, the second is the pronunciation in British English.