protocol
noun
uk/ˈprəʊtəkɒl/ us [ C ] POLITICS
a formal international agreement between governments relating to a particular activity:
Trade relations between the European Union's recent members are governed by a strict protocol.
the Kyoto protocol
[ C ] IT
a set of technical rules that control the exchange of information between different computers or computer networks:
Companies that use a competitor's protocols in their products will pay 0.4% of their revenue to that company.
Each computer's Web connection has a unique internet protocol address.
[ C or U ]
the system of rules and acceptable behaviour that people or organizations should follow in official situations, for example when they have formal discussions:
After last week's incident, officials in charge of airport security have been ordered to review safety regulations and protocol.
For a junior officer to communicate such important information directly to a senior officer in this way is considered a breach of protocol.
protocol for sth What is the protocol for handling complaints?