Etymology Paper - Grade: B PDF

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The main paper due in this course to use as a base model....

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The Etymology of Protect The word protect is an interesting word in the sense that it can be used in many different circumstances to mean nearly the same thing but in application to almost anything. Far from the chivalric nature of the word, protect is now being used in relation to new technologies. One can protect their personal information, WIFI, cellular data, or even online personas from being hacked and stolen. Although the word protect originated as a physical act, the verb has undergone many slight changes throughout the centuries to achieve the connotations that are associated with it today. The word protect was taken from the past participle form of the latin word prōtegere, which is prōtect-, and meant literally to cover (OED Online). This definition explains a physical act that must be done in order to protect something or someone. A similar

old english word used was the word beorgan. It was used to mean “save, preserve” (Wordsense). This word speaks more to the way in which the word protect is used today as more of a concept than a physical act. A person can protect their partner in a number of different ways without physically placing themselves in front of them in order to give protection. For example, they can protect them indirectly by not letting them see hateful comments that someone else posts about them on social media. Although gossip was undoubtedly still present before social media, the term protect was most often used in regard to a militaristic protection or even something along the lines of a father protecting his household. The oldest record we have of the word is from 1435 in C.L. Kingsford’s Chrons. London in which it is reported that “seyde Refuse, protected the seyde Wodeville” (OED Online). In this context, it means to protect against some sort of physical

damage, presumably from an outside source. The next few mentions of the word throughout the 1400’s and 1500’s are also used to refer to one’s daughter or a man being protected by another from harm. Some of the references are in a religious text and used when referring to god’s protection of a single man or all of humankind. In the religious sense, the word protect is not just talking about physical harm but also protecting people from sin and corruption. In H.T. Buckle’s Hist. Civilization Eng., he says “ a government undertakes to protect intellectual pursuits” (OED Online). This was published in 1857 but it is not the first document to use the word protect in relation to a government’s role over its people. However, the discussion of intellectual pursuits as being protected by the government signifies the slight shift that can be seen in the connotation of protect. Intellectual pursuits can be defined in numerous ways and so there is not a singular action that anyone can take in order to protect them, especially with the

rise of technologies. Protecting intellectual pursuits could mean keeping the internet free or simply allowing people access to higher education. To protect in this sense is a more symbolic meaning. As people become more aware of mental health, the word protect is also used in conversation with one’s mental state or that of others. E. Fawcett describes music as “that soulless and mysterious will-to-live, which forever creates, protects, and perpetuates” (OED Online). Protect in this description is an action attributed to music, which is not something that people would normally associate it with but signals another shift in the meaning of the word protect. It doesn’t just have to be a person or a wall or a house that is protecting, even the sounds of music can protect on some level. This broader association with the word brings us to the more modern usage of it. People are becoming less literal and more metaphorical as reality slips into the internet and people are

able to see things from hundreds of different angles with just one google search. Music becomes protection. Love heals wounds. These less concrete subjects are taking up a more realistic place in society. Over the years, the word protect has kept the same basic definition but humans have slowly expanded the word to encompass a much broader area. This can be attributed in part to the power of the internet. While still using the word in a military or nationalistic setting, it is also now just as common to use the word protect to mean nonphysical subjects, such as mental health or spiritualilty, and also within the new technological systems. Though undergone only slight changes in its overall etymology, protect is a word that can be used in so many different settings that it becomes almost completely unique to its user and the context that they use it in, making the word that much more special. (802 words)

Works Cited "beorgan" in WordSense.eu Online Dictionary, https://www.wordsense.eu/beorgan/. "protect, v." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2019, www.oed.com/view/Entry/153127....