a chief notary or clerk.-formerly, a chief clerk in the court of king's bench and in the court of common pleas, now superseded by the master.-a register or chief clerk of a court in certain states of the united states.-formerly, one who had the charge of writing the acts of the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.-the chief secretary of the patriarch of constantinople.-same as prothonotary.