A protocol is an official set of rules that explains the correct way to do something, especially in diplomacy, science, or computing.
From Greek *prōtokollon* 'first sheet glued onto a manuscript', from *prōtos* 'first' and *kolla* 'glue'. It came to mean the official record or draft, then the formal rules themselves.
A protocol started as the glued-on first page that told you what a document was about. Now, computer and social protocols are like that front page for behavior—they define what kind of conversation is happening and how it must flow.
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