Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Primer"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Primer \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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Primer \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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
primer
n 1: an introductory textbook
2: any igniter by which an explosive charge is ignited [syn: {fuse},
{fuze}, {fusee}, {fuzee}, {priming}]
3: the first or preliminary coat of paint or size applied to a
surface [syn: {flat coat}, {ground}, {priming}, {primer
coat}, {priming coat}, {undercoat}]
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