prothonotary
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.71 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One of the seven prelates, constituting a college in the Roman Curia, whose office is to register pontifical acts and to make and preserve the official record of beatifications.
noun
A registrar or chief clerk in various courts of law, especially (US) in a county court, (Australia) in certain state Supreme Courts, (Canada) in Federal Court.
noun
The chief secretary of the patriarch of Constantinople.
Example Sentences
- "I accordingly did direct him how to enter an appearance with the prothonotary and to obtain a copy of the plaint or declaration."
- "Prothonotary was a pretty impressive-sounding title for a clerk of court, but that’s how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania rolled."
Etymology
From Middle English prothonotarie, from Medieval Latin protonotarius, from Byzantine Greek πρωτονοτάριος (prōtonotários), from Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) + Byzantine Greek νοτάριος (notários), from Latin notārius (“notary”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: prothonotarie, protonotarius, πρωτονοτάριος, πρῶτος, νοτάριος, notārius
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Law.