protocol

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɹəʊtəˌkɒl/ (UK); /ˈpɹoʊtəˌkɑl/, /ˈpɹoʊtəˌkɔl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is earlier prothogall, prothocoll, borrowed from Middle French prothocole (“draft of a document, register”),^[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin protocollum, from Late Greek πρωτόκολλον (prōtókollon, “the first sheet glued to a manuscript”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) and κόλλα (kólla, “glue”), a word of uncertain origin.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The original note or minute of a transaction: 1541 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1540s in Etymonline; the forms prothogall and prothocoll are from Scotland.^[6][2][3][7] Etymonline records prothogol, a prologue, from the mid-15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin and French the sense developed from a rough draft or original copy of a treaty to an official record, a diplomatic document, and finally, in French, a formula of diplomatic etiquette.^[3] The original draft of a diplomatic document is from 1697 in English,^[6] and the etiquette of precedence from the 19th century (by 1896).^[7][3] The general sense of conventional proper conduct is recorded from 1952.^[3] In computing, a set of rules governing data exchange, and in science, a plan for an experiment or treatment, are later senses.^[8][9]

Timeline

• mid-15th century – a prologue.^[3]
• 1541 – the minute of a transaction.^[6][2]
• 1697 – a diplomatic draft.^[6]
• 1896 – diplomatic etiquette.^[3]
• 1952 – proper conduct generally.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions.
2. The accepted code of behaviour in a particular situation.
3. The original draft of a diplomatic document, especially of a treaty.
4. (computing) A set of rules governing the exchange of data between devices.
5. A formal plan for a scientific experiment or medical treatment.

Word family

• protocolar

Related words

• prot-
• proto-
• prototype
• collage
• colloid

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins