protetto

Protetto is the Italian adjective and past participle of proteggere, meaning "protected" or "safeguarded." It derives from Latin protectus, from protegere. In modern Italian, protetto describes something kept safe from harm or a person under protection, and it appears in a variety of legal, administrative, and technical contexts.

In law and social policy, the term appears in phrases such as testimone protetto (a protected witness), minore protetto (a child under protective custody), and persona protetta (a protected person). It can also refer to assets or zones shielded by regulation, for example beni protetti or aree protette.

In technology and computing, protetto is used in expressions like modalità protetta (protected mode) to indicate hardware-protected execution environments and protected memory regions or address spaces. It is also used in discussions of data or content that is access-protected, such as contenuto protetto.

In everyday language, protetto serves as a general descriptor for anything safeguarded, including protected areas, protected products, or protected data in labeling and documentation. The word has masculine and feminine forms, protetto and protetta, agreeing with the noun it modifies.