PROTEGE

PRONUNCIATION: (PRO-tuh-zhay, pro-tuh-ZHAY)

MEANING: noun: One who is protected, guided, and supported by somebody older and more experienced.

ETYMOLOGY: From French protégé, past participle of protéger (to protect), from Latin protegere, from pro- + tegere (cover). Ultimately from Indo-European root (s)teg- (to cover), which is the ancestor of other words such as tile, thatch, protect, detect, and toga. Earliest documented use: 1786.

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PROTOGE - the primordial dust cloud that coalesced into the Earth