protected

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
protect/prəˈtekt/

▶verb

• 1 keep safe from harm or injury.

  ■ (often as adj. protected) aim to preserve (a threatened plant or animal species) by legislating against collecting or hunting.

• 2 Economics shield (a domestic industry) from competition by imposing import duties on foreign goods.

• 3 provide funds to meet (a bill of exchange or commercial draft).

– derivatives
protectable adjective.

– origin ME: from L. protect-, protegere ‘cover in front’.