prothonotary
noun
prothonotary is spelled P-R-O-T-H-O-N-O-T-A-R-Y: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, prothonotary means “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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of prothonotary is prothonotaries.
How many letters and syllables are in prothonotary?
| Letters | 12: P-R-O-T-H-O-N-O-T-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 133,440th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prothonotary?
Prothonotary appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of prothonotary
- prothonotaries plural
- protonotary
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prothonotary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA chief legal clerk or notary in Roman Byzantium, and (hence) in Rome.
- 2
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.
- 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.
I accordingly did direct him how to enter an appearance with the prothonotary and to obtain a copy of the plaint or declaration.
- 4
The chief secretary of the patriarch of Constantinople.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does prothonotary come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).