protégé (English)
Where does "protégé" come from?
The English word 'protégé' is a direct borrowing from the French past participle of 'protéger', which means 'to protect.' It originally described someone who has been taken under the wing of a mentor, shifting from the general act of protection to identifying the specific individual who receives that guidance.
Full etymology tree
- protégé (English), 'A person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced person (a protector or mentor).'
- borrowed protégé (French), 'past participle of protéger'
- deverbal protéger (French), 'to protect'
- borrowed prōtegere (Latin), 'second-person singular future passive indicative of prōtegō'
- deverbal protéger (French), 'to protect'
- borrowed protégé (French), 'past participle of protéger'
Direct ancestors
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris