# protector
## English
### 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: /pɹəˈtɛktɚ/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (UK) IPA: /pɹəˈtɛktə/
* Rhymes: -ɛktə(ɹ)
* Hyphenation: pro‧tec‧tor

### Noun

protector (plural protectors)
* 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.
* A device or mechanism which is designed to protect.
* One who prevents interference. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
* A state or other subject under international law, exercising a protectorate over another subject in international law.
* (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.
* (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.

#### Synonyms

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

#### Derived terms

* athletic protector
* cardioprotector
* chemoprotector
* cryoprotector
* earthquake protector
* edge protector
* geroprotector
* Hector protector
* hepatoprotector
* immunoprotector
* lord protector
* lyoprotector
* mattress protector
* nephroprotector
* neuroprotector
* osmoprotector
* personal protector
* photoprotector
* phytoprotector
* pocket protector
* protectorless
* protectorly
* punt protector
* radioprotector
* renoprotector
* screen protector
* sheet protector
* surge protector
* thermoprotector
* vasoprotector

#### Related terms

* Lord Protector (also shortened to protector)
* protect
* protection
* protectoral
* protectorate
* protectorship
* protectory
* protectress
* protectrice

#### Translations
## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctōrem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [pɾu.təkˈto]
* IPA: (Balearic) [pɾo.təkˈto]
* IPA: (Valencia) [pɾo.tekˈtoɾ]

### Adjective

protector (feminine protectora, masculine plural protectors, feminine plural protectores)
* 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)
* protector (someone who protects or guards)

### Noun

protector m (plural protectors)
* protector (a device or mechanism which is designed to protect)

#### Related terms

* protecció
* protegir

### 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.

## Dutch
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

protector m (plural protectoren, diminutive protectortje n)
* a protector, guardian, regent etc.
* (rare) title of certain orphanage governors

#### Synonyms

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

#### Derived terms

* lord-protector m
* protectorschap n

#### Related terms

* protectie
* protectoraat n

## Latin
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

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

### Noun

prōtēctor m (genitive prōtēctōris); third declension
* protector (all senses)
* guardian; guard
* (politics) a high-ranking honorary title in the Roman Dominate, originally a bodyguard of the emperor

#### Declension

Third-declension noun.

#### Descendants

* Catalan: protector
* → Danish: protektor
* → Dutch: protector
* French: protecteur
* Galician: protector
* Italian: protettore
* Portuguese: protetor
* Romanian: protector
* → Russian: протектор (protektor)
* Spanish: protector
* → Swedish: protektor

### 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.

## Portuguese
### Noun

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

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctor or French protecteur.

### Adjective

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

#### Declension
### Noun

protector m (plural protectori)
* protector

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōtēctor.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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)
* protective
    Synonym: protectivo
    una familia protectora ― a protective family

#### Derived terms

* ángel protector
* cinta adhesiva protectora
* Fortaleza Protectora Argentina

### Noun

protector m (plural protectores, feminine protectora or protectriz, feminine plural protectoras or protectrices)
* protector (someone who protects or guards)
    Synonyms: valedor, patrón

### Noun

protector m (plural protectores)
* protector (a device or mechanism which is designed to protect)

#### Derived terms

* protector genital

#### Related terms

* protección
* protectorado
* protectoría
* protectorio
* proteger

### 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