protocanonical
/ˌprəʊtə(ʊ)kəˈnɒnɪkl/adjective
Of, relating to, or designating those books of scripture accepted into the biblical canon at an early date with little or no debate. Opposed to deuterocanonical.
- Chiefly applied to those books of the Old Testament included in both the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint..
Origin
Early 17th century; earliest use found in John Boys (d. 1625), dean of Canterbury. From post-classical Latin protocanonicus + -al. In later use probably partly also directly from proto- + canonical. Compare French protocanonique.