Part 618

Prot`es*tant"ic*al (?), a. Protestant. [Obs.]

Prot"es*tant*ism (?), n. [Cf. F. protestantisme.] The quality or state of being protestant, especially against the Roman Catholic Church; the principles or religion of the Protestants.

Prot"es*tant*ly, adv. Like a Protestant; in conformity with Protestantism. [R.] Milton.

Prot`es*ta"tion (?), n. [L. protestatio: cf. F. protestation. See Protest.] 1. The act of making a protest; a public avowal; a solemn declaration, especially of dissent. " The protestation of our faith." Latimer.

2. (Law) Formerly, a declaration in common-law pleading, by which the party interposes an oblique allegation or denial of some fact, protesting that it does or does not exist, and at the same time avoiding a direct affirmation or denial.

Prot"es*ta`tor (?), n. [Cf. F. protestateur.] One who makes protestation; a protester.

Pro*test"er (?), n. 1. One who protests; one who utters a solemn declaration. Shak.

2. (Law) One who protests a bill of exchange, or note.

Pro*test"ing*ly, adv. By way of protesting.

Pro"te*us (?), n. [L., Gr. &?;.] 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. (Zoˆl.) (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 amúba.

{ Pro`tha*la"mi*on (?), Pro`tha*la"mi*um (?), } n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; before + &?; chamber, especially, the bridal chamber.] A song in celebration of a marriage. Drayton.

||Pro*thal"li*um (?), n.; pl. Prothallia (#). [NL.] (Bot.) Same as ||Prothallus.

||Pro*thal"lus (?), n.; pl. Prothalli (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?; before + ||&?; a young shoot.] (Bot.) The minute primary growth from the spore ||of ferns and other Pteridophyta, which bears the true sexual organs; ||the oˆphoric generation of ferns, etc.

||Proth"e*sis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a placing in public, fr. &?; to ||set before; &?; before + &?; to set, put.] 1. (Eccl.) A credence ||table; -- so called by the Eastern or Greek Church.

2. (Med.) See Prosthesis. Dunglison.

Pro*thet"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?;.] Of or pertaining to prothesis; as, a prothetic apparatus.

{ Pro*thon"o*ta*ry (?), or Pro*ton"o*ta*ry (?) }, n.; pl> -ries (#). [LL. protonotarius, fr. Gr. prw^tos first + L. notarius a shorthand writer, a scribe: cf. F. 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 (Zoˆl.), 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.

Pro*thon"o*ta*ry*ship, n. Office of a prothonotary.

Pro`tho*rac"ic (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the prothorax.

Pro*tho"rax (?), n. [Pref. pro- + thorax.] (Zoˆl.) The first or anterior segment of the thorax in insects. See Illusts. of Butterfly and Coleoptera.

||Pro* thy`a*lo*so"ma (?), n.; pl. Prothyalosomata (#). [NL., fr. Gr. ||prw^tos first + "y`alos glass + &?;, &?;, body.] (Biol.) The ||investing portion, or spherical envelope, surrounding the eccentric ||germinal spot of the germinal vesicle.

Pro*thy"a*lo*some (?), n. (Biol.) Same as Prothyalosoma.