protocol

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state.
2. n. A code of correct conduct: safety protocols; academic protocol.
3. n. The first copy of a treaty or other such document before its ratification.
4. n. A preliminary draft or record of a transaction.
5. n. The plan for a course of medical treatment or for a scientific experiment.
6. n. Computer Science A standard procedure for regulating data transmission between computers.
7. v. To form or issue protocols.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The original of any writing.
2. n. In diplomacy, the minutes or rough draft of an instrument or a transaction; hence, the original copy of any despatch, treaty, or other document; a document serving as a preliminary to or opening of any diplomatic transaction; also, a diplomatic document or minute of proceedings signed by friendly powers in order to secure certain diplomatic ends by peaceful means.
3. n. A record or registry; in law, a notary's record of copies of his acts.
4. n. In the parts of the United States acquired from Mexico, the original record of the transfer of land. Under Spanish laws the parties to a deed, or other instrument affecting land, appeared before a regidor, a sort of notary or alderman, accompanied by their neighbors as “instrumental witnesses,” and stated the terms of their agreement. That officer made a minute of the terms and entered the formal agreement in a book. This entry was called the protocol or matrix, and remained with the officer, the parties receiving from him a similar document called a testimonio.
5. To form protocols or first drafts; issue protocols.
6. To make a protocol of.

Wiktionary

1. n. The minutes, or official record, of a negotiation or transaction; especially a document drawn up officially which forms the legal basis for subsequent agreements based on it. [from 15th c.]
2. n. An official record of a diplomatic meeting or negotiation; later specifically, a draft document setting out agreements to be signed into force by a subsequent formal treaty. [from 17th c.]
3. n. An amendment to an official treaty. [from 19th c.]
4. n. The first leaf of a roll of papyrus, or the official mark typically found on such a page. [from 19th c.]
5. n. The official formulas which appeared at the beginning or end of certain official documents such as charters, papal bulls etc. [from 19th c.]
6. n. The original notes of observations made during an experiment; also, the precise method for carrying our or reproducing a given experiment. [from 19th c.]
7. n. The official rules and guidelines for heads of state and other dignitaries, governing accepted behaviour in relations with other diplomatic representatives or over affairs of state. [from 19th c.]
8. n. An accepted code of conduct; acceptable behaviour in a given situation or group. [from 20th c.]
9. n. A set of formal rules describing how to transmit or exchange data, especially across a network. [from 20th c.]
10. n. The set of instructions allowing a licensed medical professional to start, modify, or stop a medical or patient care order. [from 20th c.]
11. v. To make a protocol of.
12. v. To make or write protocols, or first drafts; to issue protocols.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The original copy of any writing, as of a deed, treaty, dispatch, or other instrument.
2. n. The minutes, or rough draught, of an instrument or transaction.
3. n. A preliminary document upon the basis of which negotiations are carried on.
4. n. A convention not formally ratified.
5. n. An agreement of diplomatists indicating the results reached by them at a particular stage of a negotiation.
6. v. To make a protocol of.
7. v. To make or write protocols, or first draughts; to issue protocols.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state
2. n. (computer science) rules determining the format and transmission of data
3. n. code of correct conduct