Wordwyrt

protect

/pɹəˈtekt/pruh-TEKT
/pɹəˈtɛkt/pruh-TEKT

Meaningto cover in front

Common meaning: to keep safe

‘forward’ + ‘to cover’ → protect

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√STAG‘cover, thatch, roof over’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 420, p. 745 · scan
  2. Latintegō, tēxī, tēctum‘to cover’
  3. Middle Englishprotectoursource
  4. Englishprotect‘to keep safe’ · today

pro- also in: promptpropelproblemproceedprocess

tect also in: detectintegument

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin tegō ‘to cover’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry tegō, p. 1845 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

detectintegument

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