protector

Alternative forms

• protectour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English protectour, from Anglo-Norman protectour, protector, from Latin prōtēctor, from prōtegō (“shield, protect”). Displaced native Old English sċildend.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: prə-tĕk'tər, IPA^(key): /pɹəˈtɛktɚ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈtɛktə/
• Rhymes: -ɛktə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: pro‧tec‧tor

Noun

protector (plural protectors)

1. Someone who protects or guards, by assignment or on their own initiative.
   • 2005 January 3, Jon Huntsman Jr., quoted in “Highlights from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s inauguration speech”, Deseret News, 4 January 2005:

     I stand before you in the spirit of pure public service — not as a protector of the status quo, but as an agent of change.

2. A device or mechanism which is designed to protect.
3. One who prevents interference. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. A state or other subject under international law, exercising a protectorate over another subject in international law.
5. (UK, historical) One having the care of the kingdom during the king's minority; a regent.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 122, column 2:

     My Lord Protector, ’tis his Highnes pleaſure, You do prepare to ride vnto S. Albons, / Where as the King and Queene do mean to Hawke.

6. (Roman Catholicism) A cardinal, from one of the more considerable Roman Catholic nations, who looks after the interests of his people at Rome; also, a cardinal who has the same relation to a college, religious order, etc.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [pɾu.təkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pɾo.təkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pɾo.tekˈtoɾ]

Adjective

protector (feminine protectora, masculine plural protectors, feminine plural protectores)

1. protective (serving to protect)
   • 2020 January 25, “La Xina pugna per contenir el virus”, in La Vanguardia‎:

     Ahir mateix els principals centres van demanar públicament donacions de tota mena de material protector, incloent-hi màscares sanitàries, ulleres protectores, guants o bates quirúrgiques.

     Yesterday the main centers publicly asked for donations of all kinds of protective material, including sanitary masks, protective goggles, gloves or surgical gowns.

Noun

protector m (plural protectors, feminine protectora)

1. protector (someone who protects or guards)

Noun

protector m (plural protectors)

1. protector (a device or mechanism which is designed to protect)

Further reading

• “protector” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “protector”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “protector” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “protector” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology

From Latin prōtēctor, from prōtegō (“to shield, protect”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

protector m (plural protectoren, diminutive protectortje n)

1. a protector, guardian, regent etc.
2. (rare) title of certain orphanage governors

Etymology

From prōtegō (“protect, defend”) +‎ -tor (agent noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /proːˈteːk.tor/, [proːˈt̪eːkt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /proˈtek.tor/, [proˈt̪ɛkt̪or]

Noun

prōtēctor m (genitive prōtēctōris); third declension

1. protector (all senses)
2. guardian; guard
3. (politics) a high-ranking honorary title in the Roman Dominate, originally a bodyguard of the emperor

References

• “protector”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• protector in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• protector in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Noun

protector m (plural protectores, feminine protectora, feminine plural protectoras)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of protetor. Still used in countries where the agreement hasn't come into effect; may occur as a sporadic misspelling.

Adjective

protector (feminine protectora, masculine plural protectores, feminine plural protectoras)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of protetor. Still used in countries where the agreement hasn't come into effect; may occur as a sporadic misspelling.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctor or French protecteur.

Adjective

protector m or n (feminine singular protectoare, masculine plural protectori, feminine and neuter plural protectoare)

1. protective

Noun

protector m (plural protectori)

1. protector

Etymology

From Latin prōtēctor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾoteɡˈtoɾ/ [pɾo.t̪eɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: pro‧tec‧tor

Adjective

protector (feminine protectora or protectriz, masculine plural protectores, feminine plural protectoras or protectrices)

1. protective

   una familia protectora ― a protective family

Noun

protector m (plural protectores, feminine protectora or protectriz, feminine plural protectoras or protectrices)

1. protector (someone who protects or guards)

Noun

protector m (plural protectores)

1. protector (a device or mechanism which is designed to protect)

Further reading

• “protector”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10