Standard Lemma guide

protectionism

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /pɹəˈtɛk.ʃə.nɪ.zəm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛkʃənɪzəm
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AH0 T EH1 K SH AH0 N IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A system or policy of protecting the domestic producers of a product from foreign competition by imposing tariffs, quotas, duties or other barriers on importations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: economics, government, politics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Linguistic purism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the policy of imposing duties or quotas on imports in order to protect home industries from overseas competition

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: economic policy

Narrower terms: trade barrier, import barrier

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French protectionnisme, equivalent to protection + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

65 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: proteksionizëm — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Arabic: حِمَائِيَّة (ḥimāʔiyya) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Armenian: պրոտեկցիոնիզմ (protekcʻionizm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Armenian: հովանավորչություն (hovanavorčʻutʻyun) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Asturian: proteicionismu — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Azerbaijani: proteksionizm — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Basque: protekzionismo — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Belarusian: пратэкцыяні́зм (pratekcyjanízm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Bulgarian: протекциони́зъм (protekcionízǎm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Catalan: proteccionisme — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Chinese Mandarin: 保護主義 /保护主义 (bǎohùzhǔyì) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Czech: protekcionismus — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Danish: protektionisme — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Dutch: protectionisme — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Esperanto: protektismo — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Estonian: protektsionism — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Finnish: protektionismi — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • French: protectionnisme — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Georgian: პროტექციონიზმი (ṗroṭekcionizmi) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • German: Protektionismus — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Greek: προστατευτισμός (prostateftismós) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Hebrew: פְּרוֹטֶקְצְיוֹנִיזְם (protektsionízm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Hindi: संरक्षणवाद (sanrakṣaṇvād) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Hungarian: protekcionizmus — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Ido: protektismo — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Indonesian: proteksionisme — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Irish: cosantachas — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Italian: protezionismo — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Japanese: 保護主義 (hogoshugi) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Japanese: 保護貿易 (hogobōeki) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Kazakh: протекционизм (proteksionizm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Kazakh: қолдампаздық (qoldampazdyq) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Kazakh: қолдаушылық (qoldauşylyq) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Korean: 보호주의 (bohojuui) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Korean: 보호무역 (bohomuyeok) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Kyrgyz: протекционизм (protektsionizm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Latvian: protekcionisms — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Lithuanian: protekcionizmas — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Macedonian: протекциони́зам (protekcionízam) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Māori: pākaihokotanga — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Norwegian Bokmål: proteksjonisme — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: proteksjonisme — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Persian: حمایتگرایی (hemâyat-garâyi) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Polish: protekcjonizm — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Portuguese: protecionismo — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Punjabi: ਸੁਰੱਖਿਆਵਾਦ (surakkhiāvād) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Romanian: protecționism — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Russian: протекциони́зм (protɛkcionízm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Serbo-Croatian: протекционѝзам — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Serbo-Croatian: protekcionìzam — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Slovak: protekcionizmus — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Slovene: protekcionizem — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Spanish: proteccionismo — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Swedish: protektionism — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Tajik: протектсио­низм — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Tamil: பாதுகாப்புவாதம் (pātukāppuvātam) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Tatar: протекционизм (protektsiyonizm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Tatar: химаячелек (ximayäçelek) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Thai: ลัทธิคุ้มครอง (lát-tí-kúm-krɔɔng) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Turkish: korumacılık — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Turkish: himayecilik — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Ukrainian: протекціоні́зм (protekcionízm) — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Uzbek: proteksionizm — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Vietnamese: bảo hộ mậu dịch — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.
  • Welsh: diffyndollaeth — a policy of protecting the domestic producers by imposing tariffs etc.