prothonotary
[proh-thon-uh-ter-ee, proh-thuh-noh-tuh-ree]
- a chief clerk or official in certain courts of law.
- Roman Catholic Church.
- any of the seven members of the college of prothonotaries apostolic, charged chiefly with the registry of pontifical acts and canonizations.
- an honorary title for certain other prelates.
- Greek Orthodox Church. the chief secretary of the patriarch of Constantinople.
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Also protonotary.
Origin of prothonotary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for prothonotary
Historical Examples
This bond was to be filed with the prothonotary of Cambria county.
The Johnstown HorrorJames Herbert Walker
That day I found the first nest of the prothonotary warbler.
Everyday AdventuresSamuel Scoville
A son of his was for many years Prothonotary for the District of Montreal.
The Loyalists of MassachusettsJames H. Stark
This was practised to a great extent in the trials of the archbishop of Toledo, of the Prothonotary, and others.
I hoped it was a prothonotary warbler, a bird I had never seen, and about whose notes I knew nothing.
Spring notes from TennesseeBradford Torrey
prothonotary
protonotary
- (formerly) a chief clerk in certain law courts
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Word Origin
C15: from Medieval Latin prōthonotārius, from prōtho- proto- + Late Latin notārius notary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for prothonotary
n.
also protonotary, mid-15c., "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin prothonotarius, from Greek protonotarios "first scribe," originally the recorder of the court of the Byzantine empire, from protos "first" (see proto-) + Latin notarius (see notary). The -h- appeared in Medieval Latin
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper