protectress

American  

[proh-tek-tris] / proʊˈtɛk trɪs /

noun

1. a woman who guards or defends someone or something; protector.

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Gender

See -ess.

Etymology

Origin of protectress

First recorded in 1560–70; protect(o)r + -ess

Example Sentences

The most urgent painting here is one of the Met’s very first purchases: Anthony van Dyck’s “Saint Rosalia,” vanquisher of a 17th-century epidemic, whom I’ve adopted as my Covid protectress.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2020

Van Dyck — meeting the new demand, and not a little grateful himself — takes a half-finished self-portrait, slathers it with primer and paints the new protectress, floating gloriously over the illness-ravaged port town.

From New York Times • Mar. 26, 2020

One protectress of the healing arts in a 19th-century painting rides a nine-headed bird through the sky.

From New York Times • Mar. 14, 2014

In the past fortnight he has organized special Masses dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is revered by Mexicans as their protectress.

From Time Magazine Archive

Like a good huntsman, she was careful to preserve the young; she was “the protectress of dewy youth” everywhere.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton