The Collaborative International Dictionary
Prothonotary \Pro*thon"o*ta*ry\ (pr[-o]*th[o^]n"[-o]*t[als]*r[y^]), or Protonotary \Pro*ton"o*ta*ry\ (pr[-o]*t[o^]n"[-o]*t[als]*r[y^]), n.; pl. -ries (pr[-o]*th[o^]n"[-o]*t[als]*r[i^]z). [LL. protonotarius, fr. Gr. prw^tos first + L. notarius a shorthand writer, a scribe: cf. F. protonotaire.]
A chief notary or clerk. `` My private prothonotary.''
--Herrick.Formerly, a chief clerk in the Court of King's Bench and in the Court of Common Pleas, now superseded by the master.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.A register or chief clerk of a court in certain States of the United States.
(R. C. Ch.) 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.
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(Gr. Ch.) The chief secretary of the patriarch of Constantinople.
Prothonotary warbler (Zo["o]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.
Protonotary \Pro*ton"o*ta*ry\, n. Same as Prothonotary.
Wiktionary
n. (alternative spelling of prothonotary English)
Usage examples of "protonotary".
Deacon John, I, Praxeas, supreme chief of the court eunuchs, protonotary of the province, sole vicar of the deacon to the Priest, supreme custodian and logothete of the secret path.
Genoa, Marseilles, Florence and in Rome where the Pope Rezzonico, a Venetian, made me a Chevalier of Saint-Jean-Latran and an apostolic protonotary.
When he entered the hall of the Perropont, he found that he and all his suite were surrounded by armed men, who led him into another apartment, called the Vicar's Hall, where he found the Abbate Alviano, the protonotary Orsino, Jacopo Santa Croce, and Rinaldo Orsino, who were all prisoners like himself.