tutelary
Syllables: tu·te·la·ry/ˈtjuːtɪləɹɪ/US/ˈtutɪlɛɹɪ/
tutelary adjective: relating to guardianship or protection.
Adjective
tutelary (comparative more tutelary, superlative most tutelary)
- Relating to guardianship or protection.
- When a minor is involved, tutelary powers frequently accompany powers of attorney.
- [I]n the firſt of Henry the ſixth, the Company of Armorers in London were incorporated by the name of the fraternite of Saint George: which queſtionleſſe reflected on him, though not as Patron ſpecially of this Realme of England, yet as the tutelarie Saint of militarie men. Elſe to what purpose...1633, Peter Heylyn [i.e., Heylin], The Historie of that Most Famous Saint and Souldier of Christ Iesvs; St. George of Cappadocia: Asserted from the Fictions, of the Middle Ages of the Chvrch and...
- Of or pertaining to a guardian.
- My uncle is always happy to discharge his tutelary responsibilities towards me.
- [T]he Duke withdrew him to Roan, and from thence to the King of France, to craue his aid, putting him in minde of, the faithfull ſeruice his father had done him: how he was his homager, vnder his tutelarie charge, and had no other ſanctuary of ſuccour to flie vnto, in this caſe of his mutinous and...1612, Samuel Danyel [i.e., Daniel], “The Second Booke of the Historie of England: The Life of William I”, in The First Part of the Historie of England, London: […] Nicholas Okes, […], →OCLC, page 84
- Having the qualities of a tutor.
- She loved him so passionately, and he was so godlike in her eyes; and being, though untrained, instinctively refined, her nature cried for his tutelary guidance. And thus, though Tess kept repeating to herself, 'I can never be his wife,' the words were vain.1891, Thomas Hardy, “Chapter XXIX”, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman: Faithfully Presented by Thomas Hardy in Three Volumes, volume II, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., 45...
Noun
tutelary (plural tutelaries)
- A deity or spirit serving as a guardian or protector of a place, person, culture, etc.; a tutelar, a tutelary deity.
- The qualifications demanded in a tutelary are activity combined with power over the minor malignant devils. Thus most of the superior celestial Buddhas and Bodhisats may be, and are, tutelaries. But the favourite ones are the great demon-kings, […]1895, L[aurence] Austine Waddell, “Pantheon and Images”, in The Buddhism of Tibet: or Lamaism, with its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in its Relation to Indian Buddhism, London: W. H....
- Thus, various Amerind tribes are devoted to foot-racing; yet the races are not tests of swiftness so much as divinatory or invocatory acts designed to appeal to tutelaries, and are usually set by seasons for planting or harvesting or hunting.1906, Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby, editors, The New International Encyclopedia, volume XII, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, →OCLC, page 766
- Synonyms:
- tutelar, tutelary deity
tutelary meaning in Malayalam
tutelary in Malayalam
- tutelary
- രക്ഷിതാവായ rakṣitāvāya
Examples of tutelary in a sentence
- The iſland [of Lemnos] was conſecrated to Vulcan, whom the inhabitants worſhiped as their tutelary god.1747, “Book II. Chap. I. Of the Islands of Sicily, Crete, Samos, Rhodes, &c. to Their Becoming Subject to the Romans”, in An Universal...
- This, of all advantages, is the greatest, the most corroborative of power, the most tutelary of morals.1824, Walter Savage Landor, “Demosthenes and Eubulides”, in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, volume I, London...
- They devise a sole, tutelary, and all-powerful form of government, but elected by the people.1840, Alexis de Tocqueville; Henry Reeve, transl., “What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations Have to Fear [book IV, chapter VI]”, in...
- In Antwerp, for instance, as late as the sixteenth century Priapus was the tutelary god of the city.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 17:
Synonyms of tutelary
Forms of tutelary
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more tutelary |
| superlative | most tutelary |
| alternative form (obsolete) | tutelarie |
| Noun | |
| plural | tutelaries |
Origin of tutelary
From Latin tūtēlārius (“guardian”), from tūtēla (“tutelage, guardianship; dependent, client”) + -ārius (suffix denoting an agent of use); analysable as tutelar + -ary.
Words formed from tutelary
Phrases with tutelary
Questions about tutelary
- What does tutelary mean?
- Tutelary means relating to guardianship or protection.
- What is tutelary in Malayalam?
- Tutelary in Malayalam is രക്ഷിതാവായ (rakṣitāvāya). See Tutelary meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use tutelary in a sentence?
- The iſland [of Lemnos] was conſecrated to Vulcan, whom the inhabitants worſhiped as their tutelary god.
- What part of speech is tutelary?
- Tutelary can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce tutelary?
- Tutelary is pronounced /ˈtjuːtɪləɹɪ/ (UK).
Words near tutelary in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tutelary (page history and authors); രക്ഷിതാവായ (Malayalam) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tutelary.wav.
Cite this entry: “tutelary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tutelary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.