protect
/pɹəˈtɛkt/
"protect" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“protect” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,283 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #1,283
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To keep safe; to defend; to guard; to prevent harm coming to.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | protect |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /pɹəˈtɛkt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #1,283 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “protect” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for protect is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹəˈtɛkt/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,283 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for protect, with forms such as "portect", "pprotect", and "proetct". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "protein", "protest", "protégé", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested in English since 1530, from Latin prōtēctus (“covered, protected”), past participle of prōtegere (“to cover the front, protect”) from prō, prō- (“before, in front of”) + tegere (“to cover”), see tegument. Displaced native Middle English shelden, fr… The correct English form is protect, spelled P-R-O-T-E-C-T.
Definition
- 1To keep safe; to defend; to guard; to prevent harm coming to.
- 2To book a passenger on a later flight if there is a chance they will not be able to board their earlier reserved flight.
Etymology
Attested in English since 1530, from Latin prōtēctus (“covered, protected”), past participle of prōtegere (“to cover the front, protect”) from prō, prō- (“before, in front of”) + tegere (“to cover”), see tegument. Displaced native Middle English shelden, from Old English sċildan (“to protect,” literally “to shield”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: portect,pprotect,proetct,protcet,protecct,protectt,protetc,prottect,prrotect,prtoect,rpotect
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of protect - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “protect”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-O-T-E-C-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɹəˈtɛkt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “protein” - see the side-by-side comparison. protect vs protein
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.