protector

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /prəˈtɛktɚ/ UK /prəˈtɛktə/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a person or thing that defends or guards against harm

He appointed himself protector of the orphaned children.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person or thing that... defender guardian guard champion patron custodian safeguard

Opposites

attacker aggressor assailant threat

Word family

Derived forms protectorateprotectorshipprotectress

Related forms protect protection protective

Etymology

From Old French protector, from Late Latin protector ('a watchman, protector'), from Latin protegere ('to cover before, protect'), from pro- ('in front') + tegere ('to cover').

protector Latin tegere Latin *(s)teg- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# protector

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** prəˈtɛktɚ
**IPA (UK):** prəˈtɛktə

## Meanings
1. a person or thing that defends or guards against harm

## Examples
- He appointed himself protector of the orphaned children.

## Synonyms
- defender
- guardian
- guard
- champion
- patron
- custodian
- safeguard

## Antonyms
- attacker
- aggressor
- assailant
- threat

## Derived Forms
- protectorate
- protectorship
- protectress

## Related Forms
- protect
- protection
- protective

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: protector
- Root: tegere
- Root: *(s)teg-

## Etymology
From Old French protector, from Late Latin protector ('a watchman, protector'), from Latin protegere ('to cover before, protect'), from pro- ('in front') + tegere ('to cover').

## AI Etymology
Protector is from Old French protector, from Late Latin protector ('a watchman, protector'), from Latin protegere ('to cover before, protect'), from pro- ('in front') + tegere ('to cover'). Important recorded forms include protector (Latin), tegere (Latin), and *(s)teg- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers a person or thing that defends or guards against harm. The wider family includes derived forms such as protectorate, protectorship, and protectress and related words such as protect, protection, and protective.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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protector

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