Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Primer
Prim′er
,Noun.
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
,Adj.
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
,Noun.
[Originally, the book read at , 4.]
prime
, the first canonical hour. LL. primae liber
. See Prime
, Noun.
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. Great primer type.
Webster 1828 Edition
Primer
PRI'MER
,Adj.