protégé

noun

pro·​té·​gé ˈprō-tə-ˌzhā How to pronounce protégé (audio)
ˌprō-tə-ˈzhā
: one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence

Examples of protégé in a Sentence

He was a protégé of the great composer.
Recent Examples on the Web Porter, a protege of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren who flipped a swing district in Orange County, is a 50-year-old minivan-driving single mother known for her tough questioning and use of whiteboards during congressional hearings. Nikole Killion, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2024 He's known for honing the skills of Queen Maeve, A-Train, and the Deep — and he's taken Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger) as his new protege. Nick Romano, EW.com, 7 Sep. 2023 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine was among his proteges and paid tribute to the late rocker with a thoughtful post on Instagram. Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 5 Feb. 2024 VanDerveer’s coaching tree branches beyond the NCAA, too, with proteges in high-ranking posts in the NBA, WNBA and even Nike. Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2024 After three seasons on Disney Plus, Din Djarin and his adorable protege are heading to the big screen. Andrew Webster, The Verge, 9 Jan. 2024 Reid and protege Brett Veach outperformed the Team Spanos roster-building braintrust of Telesco and John Spanos. Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Dec. 2023 The title and concept for it are drawn from the work of Chilean evolutionary biologists Humberto Maturana and his protege Francisco Varela, who developed the theory of autopoiesis. Beverly Bryan, SPIN, 5 Dec. 2023 Li is believed to be a protege of General Zhang Youxia, Xi’s childhood friend and closest ally in the military. Nectar Gan, CNN, 24 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'protégé.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from past participle of protéger to protect, from Middle French, from Latin protegere

First Known Use

1786, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of protégé was in 1786

Dictionary Entries Near protégé

Cite this Entry

“Protégé.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

protégé

noun
pro·​té·​gé ˈprōt-ə-ˌzhā How to pronounce protégé (audio)
: a person under the care or training of someone influential especially for the furthering of his or her career
Etymology

French, from protéger "to protect"

More from Merriam-Webster on protégé

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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