protégé

[proh-tuh-zhey, proh-tuh-zhey]

noun

1. a person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in their career or welfare.

protégé

/ ˈprəʊtɪˌʒeɪ /

noun

1. a person who is protected and aided by the patronage of another person

Word History and Origins

Origin of protégé¹

First recorded in 1780–90; from French, noun use of past participle of protéger “to protect” from Latin prōtegere; protect

Word History and Origins

Origin of protégé¹

C18: from French protéger to _protect

Example Sentences

He’s mellow and looks like he could work at a bank — in fact, he pursued architecture before finding a calling in film as a David Fincher protégé.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But the recent ascension of Takaichi, Shinzo Abe's protege, suggests more tensions may lie ahead.

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In her early 80s she mentored a protégé, Hakeem Jeffries, to take her spot as party leader.

Read more on Slate

Following another disappointing outing at last month's Mexico City Grand Prix, where he was hit by a harsh 10-second penalty in the race, rumours began to circulate that he could be replaced by 20-year-old Briton Oliver Bearman, a Ferrari protege currently with Haas.

Read more on Barron's

Cheney next became a protégé of Donald Rumsfeld, then the director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal