Pro·thon·o·ta·ry or Pro·ton·o·ta·ry, n.; pl. -ries
 1. A chief notary or clerk. “ My private prothonotary.”
 2. Formerly, a chief clerk in the Court of King's Bench and in the Court of Common Pleas, now superseded by the master. [Eng.]
 3. A register or chief clerk of a court in certain States of the United States.
 4. R. C. Ch. 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 in the Roman Curia, whose office is to register pontifical acts and to make and preserve the official record of beatifications.
 5. Gr. Ch. The chief secretary of the patriarch of Constantinople.
 Prothonotary warbler Zool., a small American warbler (Protonotaria citrea). The general color is golden yellow, the back is olivaceous, the rump and tail are ash-color, several outer tail feathers are partly white.
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