Where does “protectress” come from?
Protectress comes from Middle English -esse, Old French -esse, and Latin -issa, a feminine suffix added to Latin protego meaning "to protect," derived from Latin pro and Proto-Indo-European pro- and bʰuH-.
protectress (English): A female protector
Definitions
- A female protector
Ancestry of “protectress”, step by step
protectress traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English protector
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | protector | Someone who protects or guards, by assignment or... |
| 2 | Middle English | protectour | — |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | protectour | protector |
| 4 | Latin | prōtector | protector (all senses) |
| 5 | Latin | prōtegō | to cover |
| 6 | Latin | prō | for |
| 7 | Latin | ratus | considered, having been considered; established,... |
| 8 | Latin | rēōr | to reckon, calculate |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | rēōr | to reckon, to calculate; to think, to deem, to... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂reh₁- | to think, reason; to arrange |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |