Etymograph

English

protocol

Protocol comes from Middle French protocolle ‘document, record’, from Late Latin protocollum ‘the first sheet of a volume’, and ultimately from Byzantine Greek πρωτόκολλον.

  1. Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453πρωτόκολλονprōtókollon‘first sheet glued onto a manuscript’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprotocollum‘the first sheet of a volume’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600protocolle‘document, record’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1837protocol

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453πρωτόκολλονprōtókollon‘first sheet glued onto a manuscript’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprotocollum‘the first sheet of a volume’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600protocolle‘document, record’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1837protocol

Earliest quotation: 1837, Thomas Carlyle, London: Chapman and Hall: “Serene Highnesses, who sit there protocolling and manifestoing, and…”

Every English word from Byzantine Greek πρωτόκολλον

Today it means

noun 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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Byzantine Greek πρωτόκολλον / protocol

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