Protection

How to spell protection

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce protection

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does protection mean?

1. nounThe act of keeping someone or something safe from harm, damage, or loss.

Protection in a sentence

• The new case offers solid protection for a fragile laptop.

• Travel insurance gives you protection against unexpected medical bills.

Where does protection come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin protectio, meaning 'a covering over' or 'a shielding', which was formed from the verb protegere. That verb combined pro, meaning 'in front of' or 'before', with tegere, meaning 'to cover', so the literal idea was to cover something by standing in front of it. The same tegere root quietly survives in everyday words like 'detect' and 'tegument', and even in the architectural word 'tile', which originally meant a covering. English took protection through Old French in the 1300s, when it referred chiefly to keeping a person or property safe from harm. Because the spelling preserves the Latin -tion ending rather than the -shun sound we hear, the trap for writers is trusting the eye over the ear and remembering the single c before the t.

How the word is built

• pro- (in front of)
• tect (from tegere: to cover)
• -ion (noun of action)