protector

• protectour (obsolete)

From Middle English protectour, from Anglo-Norman protectour, protector and its etymon Latin prōtēctor, from prōtegō (“shield, protect”).^[1] By surface analysis, protect +‎ -or. Displaced native Old English sċildend.

• (Canada, US) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈtɛktɚ/

  • Audio (General American):

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  • Audio (US):

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

protector (plural protectors)

1. Someone who protects or guards, by assignment or on their own initiative.
   • 2005 January 3, Jon Huntsman Jr., quotee, “Highlights from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s inauguration speech”, in Deseret News‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 September 2018:

     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.

   • 2018 October 31, Toby Fox, Deltarune, v1.10, Windows, scene: Seam's shop, level/area: Chapter 1:

     They [the Lightners] were like Gods to us. Our protectors. Our creators. Those who gave us purpose... Then, one day we were all locked away in this prison... And the Lightners never returned.

   1. (multiplicity slang) A headmate who primarily fronts, or otherwise protects the system, in situations where the system is at risk of psychological harm.
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.

• (one who protects or guards): guard, sentry, (obsolete) advowrer

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctōrem.

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

• Audio (Barcelona):

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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^[2]:

     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.

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

1. protector (someone who protects or guards)

protector m (plural protectors)

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

• protecció
• protegir

• “protector”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “protector”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “protector” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “protector”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

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

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protector m (plural protectoren, diminutive protectortje n)

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

• behoeder m
• beschermer m
• beschermheer m
• protecteur m (close French cognate)

• lord-protector m
• protectorschap n

• protectie
• protectoraat n

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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [proːˈteːk.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [proˈtɛk.tor]

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

Third-declension noun.

• “protector”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "protector", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, 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.

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 where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

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 where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

• “protector”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctor or French protecteur.

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

1. protective

protector m (plural protectori)

1. protector

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctor.

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

• Audio (Colombia):

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

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

1. protective

   Synonym: protectivo

   una familia protectora ― a protective family

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

1. protector (someone who protects or guards)

   Synonyms: valedor, patrón

protector m (plural protectores)

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

• “protector”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025