aegis

Pronunciation pronunciation key
eejis

Definition 
Auspices; protection. The word is Greek in origin (deriving from a word meaning "goat skin") and has its roots in mythology. It was the name of the shield of Zeus, which was forged for him by Hephaestus, and covered with the skin of the goat Amalthea. By shaking this shield Zeus created storms and thunder. Those who enjoyed his protection were thus under his aegis, the context in which the word usually appears today. (Athena was also depicted carrying an aegis with the head of the gorgon Medusa in its center.) "So saying, she turned her fine shoulders twice, once this way and once that, and went out. She had never told even Stanley her ambition that at Becket, under her aegis, should be laid the foundation-stone of the real scheme, whatever it might be, that should regenerate 'the Land'" (John Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga, 1921).