WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Pro*thon"o*ta*ry, or; Pro*ton"o*ta*ry
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [LL. protonotarius, fr. Gr. prwos first + L. notarius a shorthand writer, a scribe: cf. F. protonotaire.]
Definition : 1. A chief notary or clerk. " My private prothonotary." Herrick.

2. Formerly, a chief clerk in the Court of King's Bench and in the Court of Common Pleas, now superseded by the master. [Eng.] Wharton. Burrill.

3. A register or chief clerk of a court in certain States of the United States.

4. (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: Formerly, one who had the charge of writing the acts of the martyrs, and the circumstances of their death; now, one of twelve persons, constituting a college in the Roman Curia, whose office is to register pontifical acts and to make and preserve the official record of beatifications.

5. (Gr. Ch.)

Defn: The chief secretary of the patriarch of Constantinople. Prothonotary warbler (Zo?l.), a small American warbler (Protonotaria citrea). The general color is golden yellow, the back is olivaceous, the rump and tail are ash-color, several outer tail feathers are partly white.

pl. -ries.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913