# protocol

Pronunciation: say "PROH-tuh-kol" US /ˈpɹoʊtəˌkɑl/, UK /ˈpɹəʊtəˌkɒl/; AUS say "PROH-tuh-kawl" /ˈpɹəʉtəˌkoːl/

## Noun

1. An accepted code of conduct; the behavior considered acceptable in a particular situation or group.
   - Simple: The unwritten rules about how to behave in a certain place or group.
   - _Diplomatic protocol requires guests to wait until the host begins eating._
   - _He ignored protocol and addressed the senator by her first name._
2. The official rules and guidelines that heads of state and other dignitaries follow in relations with foreign representatives and in affairs of state.
   - Simple: The official rules that leaders and their officials follow when dealing with other countries.
   - _Diplomatic protocol dictates the order in which foreign envoys are received._
   - _The foreign ministry's chief of protocol arranged the seating for the summit._
3. In computing, a formal set of rules governing how data is sent and received, especially over a network.
   - Simple: A set of rules that lets computers send and share data with each other.
   - _Engineers designed a new protocol to speed up file transfers._
   - _The router supports several network protocols at once._
4. In health care, written instructions that authorize a licensed professional to begin, change, or end a medical or patient care order.
   - Simple: A set of medical instructions that doctors and nurses follow to start, change, or stop care.
   - _The oncology unit updated its chemotherapy protocol last year._
   - _Under standing protocol, the paramedic administered the drug before reaching the hospital._
5. A detailed, step-by-step plan for an experiment, written so the work can be done and repeated exactly.
   - Simple: The exact steps scientists follow to run an experiment the same way each time.
   - _The researchers published their protocol so others could replicate the study._
   - _A small change to the protocol produced very different results._
6. In some programming languages, a data type that declares a set of members which a class or other data type must implement.
   - Simple: In some computer languages, a type that lists what a class must include to work.
   - _In Swift, a struct can conform to more than one protocol._
   - _The team defined a protocol so any data source could plug into the app._
7. An amendment or addition made to an official treaty.
   - Simple: A change or addition made to an official treaty.
   - _The Kyoto Protocol added binding emissions targets to the climate convention._
   - _Several countries ratified the protocol within the year._
8. The first-hand notes in which observations are written down as an experiment is carried out.
   - Simple: The first written notes of what was seen during an experiment.
   - _Researchers compared their lab protocols to settle the dispute over the readings._
   - _The experiment's protocol recorded each temperature as it was measured._
9. The minutes or official record of a negotiation or transaction; especially an officially drawn-up document forming the legal basis for later agreements.
   - Simple: The official written record of a deal or talks, used as the legal base for later agreements.
   - _The merchants deposited the protocol with the notary as proof of their bargain._
   - _Each clause of the protocol was witnessed and sealed before the parties departed._
10. The fixed official wording that opens or closes certain formal documents, such as charters and papal bulls.
   - Simple: The set phrases written at the start or end of old official papers like charters.
   - _The protocol of the charter named the issuing king and invoked divine authority._
   - _Clerks copied the protocol of each bull exactly as custom required._
11. An official mark typically appearing on the first sheet of a papyrus roll, or that sheet itself.
   - Simple: The first sheet of a papyrus roll, or the official mark found on it.
   - _The protocol of the papyrus roll bore the stamp of the official workshop._
   - _Tax records were written below the protocol that opened the roll._
12. In Christian liturgy, the opening of the preface, said directly after the Sursum corda exchange.
   - Simple: The opening part of a church prayer that comes right after a set call and response.
   - _The protocol of the preface opens with thanks directed to God._
   - _On feast days the protocol leads into a longer, more solemn preface._

## Noun

13. A formal record of a diplomatic meeting or negotiation, and in later use a draft of agreed terms meant to take effect through a subsequent treaty. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The official record of a diplomatic meeting, and later a draft of terms to be made into a treaty.
   - _The ministers signed the protocol that their governments would later turn into a treaty._
   - _The protocol fixed the borders that the final treaty would confirm._

## Verb

14. To set something down as a protocol; to record it officially. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To write something down as an official record.
   - _The secretary was instructed to protocol the terms before the parties left._
   - _Officials would protocol each transaction in the town register._
15. To draft protocols or preliminary versions of documents, or to issue protocols formally. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To write protocols or first drafts, or put out official records.
   - _Throughout the negotiations the secretaries continued to protocol late into the night._
   - _He had been trained to protocol according to the old chancery customs._

## Origin

English borrowed this from Middle French protocolle, protocole ("document, record"), from Late Latin protocollum, meaning the first sheet of a volume on which contents and errata were written. That came from Byzantine Greek prōtókollon ("first sheet glued onto a manuscript"), from prôtos ("first") plus kólla ("glue"). It is a doublet of collage, collagen, and colloid.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/protocol (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).