prothonotary

plural prothonotaries · alternative protonotary

1. historicalobsoleteA chief legal clerk or notary in Roman Byzantium, and (hence) in Rome.First known use 15th–19th c.
2. CatholicismOne 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.First known use 15th c.
3. 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.First known use 17th c.

   I accordingly did direct him how to enter an appearance with the prothonotary and to obtain a copy of the plaint or declaration.

   1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 231

   1 more example

   Prothonotary was a pretty impressive-sounding title for a clerk of court, but that’s how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania rolled.

   2012, Melissa F. Miller, chapter 39, in Inadvertent Disclosure (The Sasha McCandless Series; Volume 1), e-book edition, Brown Street Books, →ISBN, page 7542

4. historicalGreek OrthodoxyThe chief secretary of the patriarch of Constantinople.First known use 18th c.