Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - escort

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle French ~e, from Italian scorta, from scorgere to guide, from Vulgar Latin *excorrigere, from Latin ex- + corrigere to make straight, correct — more at correct  Date: 1579  1.  a.  (1) a person or group of persons accompanying another to give protection or as a courtesy  (2) the man who goes on a date with a woman  b. a protective screen of warships or fighter planes or a single ship or plane used to fend off enemy attack from one or more vulnerable craft  2. accompaniment by a person or an armed protector (as a ship)  II. transitive verb  Date: 1708 to accompany as an ~