tutelary, a. and n.
(ˈtjuːtɪlərɪ)
Also 7 tutilary.
[ad. L. tūtēlāri-us a guardian, f. as prec: see -ary1. So F. tutélaire.]
A. adj.
1. Of supernatural powers: Having the position of protector, guardian, or patron; esp. protecting or watching over a particular person, place, or thing.
| 1611 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 529 A Spanish governor, who adoreth them [Jesuits] as his tutelary gods. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §33, I could easily beleeve, that..particular persons have their Tutelary and Guardian Angels. 1741 Middleton Cicero I. v. 400 That tutelary Minerva. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. xxiii. 316 Fountains and springs..watched over and guarded by tutelary divinities. 1806 R. Fellowes tr. Milton's 2nd Defence 290 The patron and tutelary genius of liberty. 1860 Motley Netherl. (1868) I. vi. 314 A little republic..suddenly bereft of its tutelary saint. 1908 Bigg Orig. Chr. i. (1909) 14 The Lares,..the little tutelary gods, who watched over the prosperity of the home. |
2. transf. Of or pertaining to protection or a protector or guardian; protective.
| 1651 G. W. tr. Cowel's Inst. 203 Obligations..arise from implyed Contracts many wayes: As for transacting businesse Tutelary. 1692 Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. 2 They acknowledged a particular Care and Protection from its Tutelary Vertue. 1721 Prior Predestination 306 My Voice and heart I lift To ask th' Almighty's Tutelary Care. 1853 Grote Greece ii. lxxxv. XI. 198 The conduct of Timoleon and æschylus..was in the highest degree tutelary to Corinth. 1879 Gladstone Glean. I. i. 30 Great acts of tutelary friendship. |
B. n. = tutelar n.
(In quot. 1866 used as almost = tutor; cf. tutelage 1 b.)
| 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 177 The tutilaries of kingdoms, nations, &c. 1654 Z. Coke Logick a j, It is Janitrix Scientiarum; the Tutelary and Guardian of all. 1657–83 Evelyn Hist. Relig. (1850) II. 279 They have tutelaries for every trade. 1866 De Morgan in Athenæum 27 Oct. 535/1 My spiritual tutelary..referred the difficulty to the Almighty. 1908 S. A. Cook Relig. Anc. Palestine vi. 67 The status of a local tutelary was affected when commercial intercourse widened the horizon of both the traveller and the native. |