1. Correct behavior on official or ceremonial occasions: Protocol involves the correct rules of etiquette for diplomats.
2. The rules of correct or appropriate behavior of a group, an organization, or a profession: The administrative committee met last week to revise the protocol for future meetings.
3. A written record or preliminary draft of a treaty or other agreement: Jesse read the protocol for international trade before he decided how he would invest his savings.
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4. A set of technical rules for the transmission and receipt of information between computers: As he was learning to use a computer, Mike was careful to follow the protocols.
5. In medicine, a written plan specifying the procedures to be followed in giving a particular examination, conducting research, or providing care for a particular medical condition: The doctor emphasized the importance of following the medical protocols carefully for the well-being of the patients and the staff.
6. Originally, a leaf glued onto the case of a volume, with a summary or account of the manuscript; then, a record of the points made; especially, of an agreement at a conference; hence, the first draft of a document: The initial report of the committee was prefaced with a protocol that summarized the major points which were considered by the members of the committee.
7.Etymology: from the 1540's, as prothogall, "a draft of a document"; from Middle French prothocole (about 1200), from Medieval Latin protocollum, "draft"; litterally, "the first sheet of a volume" (on which contents and errors were written), from Greek protokollon, "first sheet glued onto a manuscript"; from protos, "first" + kolla, "glue".

To write or to form the preliminary draft of an official document, a treaty; the rules of diplomatic and sate etiquette and ceremony, etc.