Pro-thōn'o-ta-ry, n.
n. [Lat. protonotarius, from Gr. πρῶτος, first, and Lat. notarius, a short hand writer, scribe, notary; It. & Sp. protonotario, Fr. protonotaire.]
Sense 1. A chief notary or clerk. “My private prothonotary.” Herrick.
Sense 2. Especially, one of the great officers of the church of Constantinople, ranking next to the patriarch. Hook.
Sense 3. A chief clerk in the Court of King’s Bench and Common Pleas, now superseded by the master. [Eng.] Wharton. Burrill.
Sense 4. A register or chief clerk of a court, in particular States. [U. S.]
Sense 5. (Rom. Cath. Church.) 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, who receive the last wills of cardinals, make informations and proceedings necessary for the canonization of saints, making apostolical notaries, doctors of divinity, doctors of the canon and civil law, &c. Hook.