A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. prothonotarius (c. 400), from Greek protonotarios "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine Empire, from Greek πρῶτος protos "first" + Latin notarius ("notary"); the h appeared in Medieval Latin. The title was awarded to certain high-ranking notaries, and was first recorded in the English language in 1447.