Word of the Day

: February 6, 2011

tutelage

noun TOO-tuh-lij

What It Means

1 : an act of guarding or protecting

2 : the state of being under a guardian or tutor

3 a : instruction especially of an individual

b : a guiding influence

tutelage in Context

Under the tutelage of her high school swim coach, Lynn has greatly improved her times.

"Originally a classically trained pianist as a child and moving to bass in his early teens under the tutelage of legendary Brit blues architects Alexis Korner and John Mayall, he revolutionized the art of bass playing by combining the raw energy of blues with hard rock in the late 60's to help form the 'blues rock' sound." -- From a PR Newswire article, January 24, 2011

Did You Know?

The Latin verb "tuēri" means "to look at" or "to guard." When "tutelage" first began appearing in print in the early 1600s, it was used mainly in the protective sense of "tuēri," as writers described serfs and peasants of earlier eras as being "under the tutelage of their lord." Over time, however, the word's meaning shifted away from guardianship and toward instruction. This pattern of meaning can also be seen in the related nouns "tutor" (which shifted from "a guardian" to "a private teacher") and "tuition" (which now refers to the act or profession of teaching or the cost of instruction but originally meant "protection, care, or custody especially as exercised by a parent or guardian over a child or ward").