protest

See also: Protest

English

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

From the Middle English verb protesten, from Old French protester, from Latin prōtestārī, from prō + testor, from testis (“witness”).

Pronunciation

Noun and verb
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɹəʊ.tɛst/
  • (General American, Canada) enPR: prōʹtĕst, IPA(key): /ˈpɹoʊ.tɛst/
    • Audio (California):(file)
  • (Australia) IPA(key): /ˈpɹəʉ.test/
  • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɐʉ.test/
  • Hyphenation: pro‧test
Verb
Note
The verb is stressed on the first syllable when referring to an organized protest and stressed on the second syllable when in reference to a spoken outburst.

Verb

protest (third-person singular simple present protests, present participle protesting, simple past and past participle protested)

  1. (intransitive) To make a strong objection.
    How dare you, I protest!
    The public took to the streets to protest over the planned change to the law.
    • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:
      As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. I would very gladly make mine over to him if I could.
    • 2009, Cuba:
      U.S. and European protested against Spanish conduct in Cuba.
    • 2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:
      On November 29 1952, a special train ran from Sunderland to Leeds for Christmas shoppers and those attending a Leeds vs. Brentford match. It caused controversy, with Sunderland traders protesting that their shops were just as good as those in Leeds.
  2. (transitive) To affirm (something).
    I protest my innocence.
    I do protest and declare …
  3. To object to.
    • 1976 February 14, Joan DeForeest, “Irresponsible Inaccuracies Infuriate”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 33, page 5:
      "The gay community would love to point to Patti and say, 'She's one of us'" […] I protest the statement I have mentioned, as well as others like it. Few people I know, gay or straight, identify with the often outrageous thoughts of Patti Smith. Among other things, she's indicated in interviews that she thinks violence and rape are dandy experiences.
  4. (transitive, chiefly Canada, US) To publicly demonstrate against.
    They protested the demolition of the school.
  5. To call as a witness in affirming or denying, or to prove an affirmation; to appeal to.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      Fiercely [they] opposed / My journey strange, with clamorous uproar / Protesting fate supreme.
  6. (law, transitive) to make a solemn written declaration, in due form, on behalf of the holder, against all parties liable for any loss or damage to be sustained by non-acceptance or non-payment of (a bill or note). This should be made by a notary public, whose seal it is the usual practice to affix.
  7. (obsolete, transitive) To publish; to make known.

Translations

Noun

protest (countable and uncountable, plural protests)

  1. A formal objection, especially one by a group.
    They lodged a protest with the authorities.
  2. A collective gesture of disapproval; a demonstration.
    We held a protest in front of City Hall.
    • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist‎[1], volume 408, number 8848, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 April 2020:
      All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism.
    • 2020 July 13, Austin Ramzy, Elaine Yu, Tiffany May, “Hong Kong Voters Defy Beijing, Endorsing Protest Leaders in Primary”, in The New York Times‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 July 2020:
      Sage Ip, a 29-year-old flight attendant who cast her ballot on Sunday in the Sai Ying Pun district, said she voted in the primary because she was worried that she would never get a chance to do so again. “Voting is something that is still within our capacity. We can’t express ourselves at protests anymore.”
  3. The noting by a notary public of an unpaid or unaccepted bill.
  4. A written declaration, usually by the master of a ship, stating the circumstances attending loss or damage of ship or cargo, etc.

Synonyms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Derived terms

Anagrams

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?
Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?
Proto-Indo-European *pér
Proto-Indo-European *-o
Proto-Indo-European *pró
Proto-Indo-European *pro-
Proto-Italic *pro-
Latin prō-
Proto-Indo-European *tri-
Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *trito-sth₂-o-s
Proto-Italic *tristos
Latin *terstis
Latin testis
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
Proto-Italic *-ājō
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -o
Latin testor
Latin prōtestorbor.
Czech protest

    Borrowed from Latin prōtestor.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈprotɛst]
    • Audio:(file)

    Noun

    protest m inan

    1. protest
      vyvolat protest. ― to elicit protest.

    Declension

    Declension of protest (hard masculine inanimate)
    singular plural
    nominative protest protesty
    genitive protestu protestů
    dative protestu protestům
    accusative protest protesty
    vocative proteste protesty
    locative protestě, protestu protestech
    instrumental protestem protesty

    Further reading

    Danish

    Noun

    protest c (singular definite protesten, plural indefinite protester)

    1. protest

    Declension

    Declension of protest
    common
    gender     		singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative protest protesten protester protesterne
    genitive protests protestens protesters protesternes

    Derived terms

    • protestaktion
    • protestbevægelse
    • protestmarch
    • protestmøde
    • protestparti
    • protestskrivelse
    • protestunderskrift

    See also

    References

    Dutch

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Middle French [Term?], from Old French [Term?], from Latin protestō.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /proːˈtɛst/
    • Hyphenation: pro‧test
    • Rhymes: -ɛst

    Noun

    protest n (plural protesten, diminutive protestje n)

    1. protest (occasion to express dissatisfaction)
    2. protest (expression of disagreement)

    Hyponyms

    Derived terms

    • massaprotest
    • protestactie
    • protestbeweging
    • protestbord
    • protestdag
    • protestlied
    • protestmars
    • protestpartij
    • protestschrift
    • proteststem
    • proteststemmer
    • protestzanger
    • studentenprotest
    • volksprotest

    Descendants

    • Afrikaans: protes
    • → Indonesian: protes
    • → Caribbean Javanese: protès

    Estonian

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /protˈesʲt/

    Noun

    protest (genitive protesti, partitive protesti)

    1. protest

    Declension

    Declension of protest (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
    singular plural
    nominative protest protestid
    accusative nom.
    gen. protesti
    genitive protestide
    partitive protesti proteste
    protestisid
    illative protesti
    protestisse     		protestidesse
    protestesse
    inessive protestis protestides
    protestes
    elative protestist protestidest
    protestest
    allative protestile protestidele
    protestele
    adessive protestil protestidel
    protestel
    ablative protestilt protestidelt
    protestelt
    translative protestiks protestideks
    protesteks
    terminative protestini protestideni
    essive protestina protestidena
    abessive protestita protestideta
    comitative protestiga protestidega
    • protesteerima
    • protestima

    Further reading

    • “protest”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
    • “protest”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
    • protest in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

    Indonesian

    Noun

    protest (plural protest-protest)

    1. misspelling of protes

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Etymology

    From Latin protestari, as for protestere.

    Noun

    protest m (definite singular protesten, indefinite plural protester, definite plural protestene)

    1. a protest

    Derived terms

    References

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Etymology

    From Latin protestari.

    Noun

    protest m (definite singular protesten, indefinite plural protestar, definite plural protestane)

    1. a protest

    Derived terms

    References

    Polish

    Etymology

    Borrowed from German Protest, from Italian protesto, from Latin prōtestārī, from prō + testor, from testis (“witness”).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈprɔ.tɛst/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Rhymes: -ɔtɛst
    • Syllabification: pro‧test

    Noun

    protest m inan

    1. (law) protest (formal objection)
    2. (government, politics) protest (demonstration)
      Synonym: demonstracja

    Declension

    Declension of protest
    singular plural
    nominative protest protesty
    genitive protestu protestów
    dative protestowi protestom
    accusative protest protesty
    instrumental protestem protestami
    locative proteście protestach
    vocative proteście protesty

    Further reading

    • “protest”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
    • “protest”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[4] (in Polish)

    Romanian

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?
    Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?
    Proto-Indo-European *pér
    Proto-Indo-European *-o
    Proto-Indo-European *pró
    Proto-Indo-European *pro-
    Proto-Italic *pro-
    Latin prō-
    Proto-Indo-European *tri-
    Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-
    Proto-Indo-European *trito-sth₂-o-s
    Proto-Italic *tristos
    Latin *terstis
    Latin testis
    Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
    Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
    Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
    Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
    Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
    Proto-Italic *-ājō
    Proto-Italic *-āō
    Latin -o
    Latin testor
    Latin prōtestārīlbor.
    French protesterbor.
    Romanian protestabf.
    Romanian protest

      Back-formation from protesta.

      Noun

      protest n (plural proteste)

      1. protest

      Declension

      singular plural
      indefinite definite indefinite definite
      nominative-accusative protest protestul proteste protestele
      genitive-dative protest protestului proteste protestelor
      vocative protestule protestelor

      Serbo-Croatian

      Etymology

      Borrowed from German Protest.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /prǒtest/
      • Hyphenation: pro‧test

      Noun

      pròtest m inan (Cyrillic spelling про̀тест)

      1. protest
        Synonym: pròsvjed

      Declension

      Declension of protest
      singular plural
      nominative protest protesti
      genitive protesta protesta
      dative protestu protestima
      accusative protest proteste
      vocative proteste protesti
      locative protestu protestima
      instrumental protestom protestima

      Swedish

      Pronunciation

      • Audio:(file)

      Noun

      protest c

      1. protest

      Declension

      Declension of protest
      nominative genitive
      singular indefinite protest protests
      definite protesten protestens
      plural indefinite protester protesters
      definite protesterna protesternas

      Derived terms

      Anagrams

      Welsh

      Etymology

      From English protest.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈprɔtɛsd/, [ˈpr̥ʰɔtʰɛst]

      Noun

      protest f (plural protestiadau or protestadau)

      1. protest, demonstration (collective gesture of disapproval)
        Synonym: gwrthdystiad
        • 2020 November 11, BBC Cymru Fyw‎[5], archived from the original on 29 December 2025:
          Mae dwsinau o ddynion sydd wedi cael eu cartrefi mewn gwersyll ym Mhenalun, Sir Benfro wedi cynnal protest dros eu hamodau byw. Cynhaliodd y dynion brotest yn hawlio bod eu hawliau dynol yn cael eu hanwybyddu.
          Dozens of men who have been housed in a camp in Penally, Pembrokeshire have held a protest over their living conditions. The men held a protest claiming that their human rights were being ignored.

      Derived terms

      Mutation

      Mutated forms of protest
      radical soft nasal aspirate
      protest brotest mhrotest phrotest

      Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
      All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

      Further reading

      • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “protest”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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