Protester Pro·test"er noun 1. One who protests; one who utters a solemn declaration. Shak. 2. (Law) One who protests a bill of exchange, or note.
Protestingly Pro·test"ing·ly adverb By way of protesting.
Proteus Pro"te·us noun [ Latin , Greek ....]
1. (Class. Myth.) A sea god in the service of Neptune who assumed different shapes at will. Hence, one who easily changes his appearance or principles. 2. (Zoology) (a) A genus of aquatic eel-shaped amphibians found in caves in Austria. They have permanent external gills as well as lungs. The eyes are small and the legs are weak. (b) A changeable protozoan; an amœba.
Prothalamion, Prothalamium Pro`tha·la"mi·on, Pro`tha·la"mi·um noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... before + ... chamber, especially, the bridal chamber.]
A song in celebration of a marriage. Drayton.
Prothallium Pro·thal"li·um noun ;
plural Prothallia . [ New Latin ]
(Botany) Same as Prothallus .
Prothallus Pro·thal"lus noun ;
plural Prothalli . [ New Latin , from Greek ... before + ... a young shoot.]
(Botany) The minute primary growth from the spore of ferns and other Pteridophyta , which bears the true sexual organs; the oöphoric generation of ferns, etc.
Prothesis Proth"e·sis noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... a placing in public, from ... to set before; ... before + ... to set, put.]
1. (Eccl.) A credence table; -- so called by the Eastern or Greek Church. 2. (Medicine) See Prosthesis . Dunglison.
Prothetic Pro·thet"ic adjective [ Greek ....]
Of or pertaining to prothesis; as, a prothetic apparatus.
Prothonotary, Protonotary Pro·thon"o·ta·ry, Pro·ton"o·ta·ry noun ; pl>
-ries . [ Late Latin
protonotarius , from Greek
prw^tos first + Latin
notarius a shorthand writer, a scribe: confer French
protonotaire .]
1. A chief notary or clerk. " My private
prothonotary ."
Herrick. 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 Formerly, a chief clerk in the Court of King's Bench and in the Court of Common Pleas, now superseded by the master .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.]
Wharton. Burrill. 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 (Zoology) ,
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.
Prothonotaryship Pro·thon"o·ta·ry·ship noun Office of a prothonotary.
Prothoracic Pro`tho·rac"ic adjective (Zoology) Of or pertaining to the prothorax.
Prothorax Pro·tho"rax noun [ Prefix
pro- +
thorax .]
(Zoology) The first or anterior segment of the thorax in insects. See Illusts . of Butterfly and Coleoptera .
Prothyalosome Pro·thy"a·lo·some noun (Biol.) Same as Prothyalosoma .
Protist Pro"tist noun (Zoology) One of the Protista.
Protista Pro·tis"ta noun plural [ New Latin , from Greek
prw`tistos first.]
(Zoology) A provisional group in which are placed a number of low microscopic organisms of doubtful nature. Some are probably plants, others animals.
Protiston Pro·tis"ton noun ;
plural Protista . [ New Latin ]
(Zoology) One of the Protista.
Proto- Pro"to- [ Greek prw^tos first, a superl. from pro` before. See Pro- .] 1. A combining form prefix signifying first , primary , primordial ; as, proto martyr, the first martyr; proto morphic, primitive in form; proto plast, a primordial organism; proto type, proto zoan. 2. (Chemistry) (a) Denoting the first or lowest of a series , or the one having the smallest amount of the element to the name of which it is prefixed; as prot oxide, proto chloride, etc. (b) Sometimes used as equivalent to mono- , as indicating that the compound has but one atom of the element to the name of which it is prefixed. Also used adjectively.
Proto-Doric Pro`to-Dor·ic adjective [
Proto- +
Doric .]
(Architecture) Pertaining to, or designating, architecture, in which the beginnings of the Doric style are supposed to be found.
Protocanonical Pro`to·ca·non"ic·al adjective Of or pertaining to the first canon, or that which contains the authorized collection of the books of Scripture; -- opposed to deutero- canonical .
Protocatechuic Pro`to·cat`e·chu"ic adjective (Chemistry) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, an organic acid which is obtained as a white crystalline substance from catechin, asafetida, oil of cloves, etc., and by distillation itself yields pyrocatechin.
Protocercal Pro`to·cer"cal adjective [
Proto- + Greek ... the tail.]
(Zoology) Having a caudal fin extending around the end of the vertebral column, like that which is first formed in the embryo of fishes; diphycercal.
Protococcus Pro`to·coc"cus noun [ New Latin See
Proto- , and
Coccus .]
(Botany) A genus of minute unicellular algæ including the red snow plant ( Protococcus nivalis ).
Protocol Pro"to·col noun [ French
protocole , Late Latin
protocollum , from Greek ... the first leaf glued to the rolls of papyrus and the notarial documents, on which the date was written;
prw^tos the first (see
Proto- ) + ... glue.]
1. The original copy of any writing, as of a deed, treaty, dispatch, or other instrument. Burrill. 2. The minutes, or rough draught, of an instrument or transaction. 3. (Diplomacy) (a) A preliminary document upon the basis of which negotiations are carried on. (b) A convention not formally ratified. (c) An agreement of diplomatists indicating the results reached by them at a particular stage of a negotiation.
Protocol Pro"to·col transitive verb To make a protocol of.
Protocol Pro"to·col intransitive verb To make or write protocols, or first draughts; to issue protocols. Carlyle.
Protocolist Pro"to·col`ist noun One who draughts protocols.
Protoconch Pro"to·conch noun [
Proto- +
conch .]
(Zoology) The embryonic shell, or first chamber, of ammonites and other cephalopods.
Protogine Pro"to·gine noun [
Proto- + root of Greek ... to be born: confer French
protogyne .]
(Min.) A kind of granite or gneiss containing a silvery talcose mineral.
Protogynous Pro·tog"y·nous adjective [
Proto + Greek
gynh` a woman.]
(Botany) Same as Proterogynous .
Protohippus Pro`to·hip"pus noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... first + ... horse.]
(Paleon.) A genus of fossil horses from the Lower Pliocene. They had three toes on each foot, the lateral ones being small.
Protomartyr Pro"to·mar`tyr noun [ Late Latin , from Greek ...; ... first + ... martyr: confer French
protomartyr . See
Proto- , and
Martyr .]
The first martyr; the first who suffers, or is sacrificed, in any cause; -- applied esp. to Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Protomerite Pro`to·mer"ite noun [
Proto- +
-mere +
-ite .]
(Zoology) The second segment of one of the Gregarinæ.
Protometals Pro`to·met"als noun plural A finer form of metals, indicated by enhanced lines in their spark spectra (which are also observed in the spectra of some stars), obtained at the highest available laboratory temperatures ( Lockyer ); as protocalcium, protochromium, protocopper, protonickel, protosilicon, protostrontium, prototitanium, protovanadium. --
Pro`to*me*tal"ic adjective
Protomorphic Pro`to·mor"phic adjective [
Proto- + Greek ... form.]
(Biol.) Having the most primitive character; in the earliest form; as, a protomorphic layer of tissue. H. Spencer.
Protonema Pro`to·ne"ma noun ;
plural Protonemata . [ New Latin , from Greek ... first + ..., ..., a thread.]
(Botany) The primary growth from the spore of a moss, usually consisting of branching confervoid filaments, on any part of which stem and leaf buds may be developed.
Protonotary Pro·ton"o·ta·ry noun Same as Prothonotary .
Protopapas Pro`to·pap"as noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... a chief priest.]
(Gr. Ch.) A protopope.
Protophyte Pro"to·phyte noun [
Proto- + Greek ... a plant.]
(Botany) Any unicellular plant, or plant forming only a plasmodium, having reproduction only by fission, gemmation, or cell division. » The protophytes (
Protophyta ) are by some botanists considered an independent branch or class of the vegetable kingdom, and made to include the lowest forms of both fungi and algæ, as slime molds, Bacteria, the nostocs, etc. Confer
Carpophyte , and
Oöphyte .
Protophytology Pro`to·phy·tol"o·gy noun [
Proto- +
phytology .]
Paleobotany.
Protopine Pro"to·pine noun [
Proto- +
opium .]
(Chemistry) An alkaloid found in opium in small quantities, and extracted as a white crystalline substance.
Protoplasm Pro"to·plasm noun [
Proto- + Greek ... form, from ... to mold.]
(Biol.) The viscid and more or less granular material of vegetable and animal cells, possessed of vital properties by which the processes of nutrition, secretion, and growth go forward; the so-called " physical basis of life;" the original cell substance, cytoplasm, cytoblastema, bioplasm sarcode, etc. » The lowest forms of animal and vegetable life (unicellular organisms) consist of
simple or
unaltered protoplasm ; the tissues of the higher organisms, of
differentiated protoplasm .
Protoplasmatic Pro`to·plas·mat"ic adjective Protoplasmic.
Protoplasmic Pro`to·plas"mic adjective 1. Of or pertaining to the first formation of living bodies. 2. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to protoplasm; consisting of, or resembling, protoplasm.
Protoplast Pro"to·plast noun [ Latin
protoplastus the first man, Greek ... formed or created first; ... first + ... formed, from ... to form.]
1. The thing first formed; that of which there are subsequent copies or reproductions; the original. 2. (Biol.) A first-formed organized body; the first individual, or pair of individuals, of a species. A species is a class of individuals, each of which is hypothetically considered to be the descendant of the same protoplast , or of the same pair of protoplasts .
Latham.
Protoplasta Pro`to·plas"ta noun plural [ New Latin ]
(Zoology) A division of fresh-water rhizopods including those that have a soft body and delicate branched pseudopodia. The genus Gromia is one of the best-known.
Protoplastic Pro`to·plas"tic adjective First- formed. Howell.
Protopodite Pro·top"o·dite noun [
Proto- + Greek ..., ..., foot.]
(Zoology) The basal portion, or two proximal and more or less consolidated segments, of an appendage of a crustacean.
Protopope Pro"to·pope noun [
Proto- +
pope : confer French
protopope , Russian
protopop' .]
(Gr. Ch.) One of the clergy of first rank in the lower order of secular clergy; an archpriest; -- called also protopapas .
Protopterus Pro·top"te·rus noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... first + ... a feather (taken to mean, fin).]
(Zoology) See Komtok .
Protosalt Pro"to·salt noun [
Proto- +
salt .]
(Chemistry) A salt derived from a protoxide base. [ Obsolete]
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