Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Primer?

\Prim"er\, n. One who, or that which, primes; specifically, an instrument or device for priming; esp., a cap, tube, or water containing percussion powder or other compound for igniting a charge of gunpowder.
\Prim"er\, a. [OF. primer, primier, premier, F. premier. See {Premier}.] First; original; primary. [Obs.] ``The primer English kings.'' --Drayton. {Primer fine} (O. Eng. Law), a fine due to the king on the writ or commencement of a suit by fine. --Blackstone. {Primer seizin} (Feudal Law), the right of the king, when a tenant in capite died seized of a knight's fee, to receive of the heir, if of full age, one year's profits of the land if in possession, and half a year's profits if the land was in reversion expectant on an estate for life; -- now abolished. --Blackstone.
\Prim"er\, n. [Originally, the book read at prime, the first canonical hour. LL. primae liber. See {Prime}, n., 4.] 1. Originally, a small prayer book for church service, containing the little office of the Virgin Mary; also, a work of elementary religious instruction. The primer, or office of the Blessed Virgin. --Bp. Stillingfleet. 2. A small elementary book for teaching children to read; a reading or spelling book for a beginner. As he sat in the school at his prymer. --Chaucer. 3. (Print.) A kind of type, of which there are two species; one, called {long primer}, intermediate in size between bourgeois and small pica [see {Long primer}]; the other, called {great primer}, larger than pica. Note: Great primer type.