The DICT Development Group

  Protocol \Pro"to*col\, v. i.
     To make or write protocols, or first draughts; to issue
     protocols. --Carlyle.
     [1913 Webster]

  Protocol \Pro"to*col\, n. [F. protocole, LL. protocollum, fr.
     Gr. ? 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The minutes, or rough draught, of an instrument or
        transaction.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]

  Protocol \Pro"to*col\, v. t.
     To make a protocol of.
     [1913 Webster]

  protocol
      n 1: (computer science) rules determining the format and
           transmission of data [syn: protocol, communications
           protocol]
      2: forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and
         heads of state
      3: code of correct conduct; "safety protocols"; "academic
         protocol"

  97 Moby Thesaurus words for "protocol":
     accord, agenda, agreement, amenities, arrangement, authority,
     bargain, batting order, bill, bill of fare, binding agreement,
     blueprint, bond, budget, calendar, card, carte du jour, cartel,
     civilities, civility, collective agreement, comity, compact,
     concordat, consortium, contract, convention, conventions,
     courtliness, covenant, covenant of salt, customs, deal, decencies,
     decorum, dicker, diplomacy, diplomatic code, docket, draft,
     elegance, elegancies, employment contract, etiquette,
     exquisite manners, form, formal agreement, formalities, formality,
     good form, good manners, ironclad agreement, legal agreement,
     legal contract, lineup, list of agenda, manners, memorandum, menu,
     minute, mores, mutual agreement, natural politeness, note, outline,
     pact, paction, playbill, point of etiquette, politeness, politesse,
     practice, program, program of operation, programma, promise,
     proprieties, prospectus, punctilio, quiet good manners, roster,
     rules of conduct, schedule, slate, social code, social conduct,
     social graces, social procedures, social usage, stipulation,
     transaction, treaty, understanding, union contract, usage,
     valid contract, wage contract
  
  

  protocol
   n.
  
      As used by hackers, this never refers to niceties about the proper form for
      addressing letters to the Papal Nuncio or the order in which one should use
      the forks in a Russian-style place setting; hackers don't care about such
      things. It is used instead to describe any set of rules that allow
      different machines or pieces of software to coordinate with each other
      without ambiguity. So, for example, it does include niceties about the
      proper form for addressing packets on a network or the order in which one
      should use the forks in the Dining Philosophers Problem. It implies that
      there is some common message format and an accepted set of primitives or
      commands that all parties involved understand, and that transactions among
      them follow predictable logical sequences. See also handshaking, do
      protocol.
  

  protocol
  
     A set of formal rules describing how to transmit data,
     especially across a network.  Low level protocols define the
     electrical and physical standards to be observed, bit- and
     byte-ordering and the transmission and error detection and
     correction of the bit stream.  High level protocols deal with
     the data formatting, including the syntax of messages, the
     terminal to computer dialogue, character sets, sequencing of
     messages etc.
  
     Many protocols are defined by RFCs or by OSI.
  
     See also handshaking.
  
     [{Jargon File]
  
     (1995-01-12)
  

  PROTOCOL, civil law, international law. A record or register. Among the 
  Romans, protocollunt was a writing at the head of the first page of the 
  paper used by the notaries or tabellions. Nov. 44. 
       2. In France the minutes of notarial acts were formerly transcribed on 
  registers, which were called protocols. Toull. Dr. Civ. Fr. liv. 3, t. 3, c. 
  6, s. 1, n. 413. 
       3. By the German law it signifies the minutes of any transaction. 
  Eneye. Amer. Protocol. In the latter sense the word has of late been 
  received into international law. Ibid.