English
protect
Protect comes from Latin prōtēctus ‘protected’, past participle of prōtegō ‘to cover the front’, from prō- + tegō ‘to cover’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegō‘to cover’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōtegō‘to cover the front, protect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōtēctus‘covered, protected’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012protect
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegō‘to cover’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōtegō‘to cover the front, protect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōtēctus‘covered, protected’
- Englishearliest quotation 2012protect
Earliest quotation: 2012, William E. Carter, The British Longitude Act Reconsidered: “But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude…”
A compound of prō ‘before, in front of’ + tegō ‘to cover’
Proto-Indo-European *pró ‘toward’
Proto-Italic *prō ‘for’
Latin prō ‘before, in front of’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘to cover with a roof’
Proto-Italic *tegō ‘to cover’
Latin tegō ‘to cover’
The story
Attested in English since 1530, from Latin prōtēctus (‘covered, protected’), past participle of prōtegō, prōtegere (‘to cover the front, protect’) from prō, prō- (‘before, in front of’) + tegō, tegere (‘to cover’), see tegument. Largely displaced native Middle English shelden, from Old English sċildan (“to protect,” literally “to shield”).
Linked words
through Latin prōtegere ‘to cover the front, protect’
Today it means
verb To keep safe; to defend; to guard; to prevent harm coming to.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin tegō / protect