What does "protocol" mean?

Protocol: The minutes, or rough draught, of an instrument or transaction.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(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.
  2. 3.To make a protocol of.
  3. 4.To make or write protocols, or first draughts; to issue protocols. Carlyle.

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