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
oöphoric generation of ferns, etc.
Prothesis
(||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.
Prothetic
(Pro*thet"ic) a. Of or pertaining to prothesis; as, a prothetic apparatus.
Prothonotary
(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 Formerly, a chief clerk in the Court of King's Bench and in the Court of Common Pleas, now superseded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 (Zoöl.), a small American warbler 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), n. Office of a prothonotary.
Prothoracic
(Pro`tho*rac"ic) a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the prothorax.
Prothorax
(Pro*tho"rax) n. [Pref. pro- + thorax.] (Zoöl.) The first or anterior segment of the thorax in
insects. See Illusts. of Butterfly and Coleoptera.
Pro thyalosoma
(||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.
Prothyalosome
(Pro*thy"a*lo*some) n. (Biol.) Same as Prothyalosoma.
Protist
(Pro"tist) n. (Zoöl.) One of the Protista.
Protista
(||Pro*tis"ta) n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. prw`tistos first.] (Zoöl.) 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) n.; pl. Protista [NL.] (Zoöl.) One of the Protista.
Proto-
(Pro"to-) [Gr. prw^tos first, a superl. fr. pro` before. See Pro-.]
1. A combining form prefix signifying first, primary, primordial; as, protomartyr, the first martyr; protomorphic,
primitive in form; protoplast, a primordial organism; prototype, protozoan.
