Protologue

//ˈpɹəʊtəʊlɒɡ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    All the original material associated with a newly published name, comprising its description or diagnosis and any of a number of other elements such as illustrations, synonymy, etc.

    "This is important, since the brief protologus of A. flava published in the Edinburgh Catalogus included only the first four lines from Solander’s original manuscript (our translation of Solander’s protologue: “calyx ovate, half the length of the upper petal claws, blade cordate-subrotund, stamens curved”) and therefore was incomplete and is inadequate for typification."

Example

More examples

"This is important, since the brief protologus of A. flava published in the Edinburgh Catalogus included only the first four lines from Solander’s original manuscript (our translation of Solander’s protologue: “calyx ovate, half the length of the upper petal claws, blade cordate-subrotund, stamens curved”) and therefore was incomplete and is inadequate for typification."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωτολόγος (prōtológos, “speaking first”). Equivalent to proto- + -logue.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.