protectionism

Etymology

It is formed from English protection + -ism,^[2][3] the OED comparing French protectionnisme, recorded in 1845, and the earlier protectionist;^[2] Etymonline, Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Webster's Third instead take the noun for a supporter of protection as its base.^[4][5][6] The base noun goes back through Old French proteccion to Late Latin prōtēctiō (“a covering over”), from Latin prōtegō (“to cover in front, protect”), formed from prō (“before”) and tegō (“to cover”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The doctrine that domestic industries should be shielded from foreign competition by duties, quotas and similar measures: 1846, in The Times of 12 January.^[2][4] The 1989 edition of the OED had 1852,^[7] and Dictionary.com dates the word 1855–60.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word grew out of the economic sense of protection, the fostering of home industries by restricting or taxing imports, which the OED records from 1719 and Etymonline from 1789,^[2][4] and it followed protectionist, a supporter of that policy, dated by the OED from 1834 and by Etymonline from 1841.^[2][4] The revised OED's definition covers both the doctrine and its practical implementation.^[2]

Timeline

• 1846 – the doctrine or policy of protecting domestic industries from foreign competition.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The economic doctrine or policy of shielding domestic producers from foreign competition by tariffs, quotas and other limits on imports: Critics blamed rising protectionism for the fall in exports.^[5][2][8]

Word family

• protectionist
• protectionistic

Related words

• protect
• protection
• protective

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West