Etymologically
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primer

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈpɹaɪ.mə/[1]
  • US: /ˈpɹɪm.əɹ/, /ˈpɹaɪməɹ/[1]

primer1 prayer book, elementary schoolbook

Etymology

The prayer book or first reading book is borrowed from Medieval Latin prīmārium and prīmārius (“prayer book, devotional manual”),[2][3][4][5][6] the nouns of the neuter and masculine of Latin prīmārius (“of the first, primary”),[2][6][7] from prīmus (“first”),[4][3][8] on the notion of a first book.[4] The ODE explains the nouns as short for prīmārius liber (“primary book”) and prīmārium manuāle (“primary manual”).[9][6] The American Heritage Dictionary, Hoad and Collins take it through Anglo-Norman primer,[3][7][10] which the OED compares as a word for a devotional manual of the late 14th century.[2] The OED notes the Medieval Latin words in British sources from the early 14th century, and also suggests a derivation from prīma (“prime, the first canonical hour”) with the suffix -ārius;[2] Etymonline likewise allows that it may be partly from prime in the sense of the hour, like a book of hours.[4] Weekley thought the reason for the first sense obscure.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A prayer book or devotional manual for lay people: 1378 in the OED and Barnhart.[2][5] Etymonline notes that the senses "prayer book" and "school book" were not distinguished in Middle English, as children were taught to read from prayer books.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The schoolbook sense is recorded from about 1390, in Chaucer's Prioress's Tale;[2][12] according to the OED, cited by Barnhart, editions made for teaching reading, with a section on the alphabet, appear in the 1530s.[5] Johnson (1755) gave both senses, explaining the reading book as named from the Roman Catholic book of devotions.[13] The figurative sense "a first means of instruction" is recorded from 1640, and a small introductory book on any subject from 1722[2] (Etymonline: 1807).[4] From the 16th century primer also named two sizes of type, great primer and long primer, probably transferred from the prayer book.[2][7] In New Zealand a primer is one of the first classes of primary school, or a child in one (from 1885).[2]

Timeline

  • 1378 – a prayer book or devotional manual for lay people.[2][5]
  • c. 1390 – an elementary book for teaching children to read, in Chaucer.[2]
  • 1539 – a size of type (great primer).[2]
  • 1640 – figuratively, a first means of instruction.[2]
  • 1722 – a small introductory book on any subject.[2]
  • 1885 – a first-year class in primary school (chiefly New Zealand).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small book for teaching children to read.[14][2][10]
  2. A short introductory book on a subject: a primer of astronomy.[14][10][2]
  3. (historical) A prayer book or book of hours for lay people, used from the 14th to the 17th century.[14][2]
  4. (chiefly New Zealand) One of the first classes in a primary school, or a child in one.[2]
  5. (printing, historical) A size of type, in great primer and long primer.[2][10]

Word family

  • great primer
  • long primer

primer2 priming device, first coat

Etymology

The device or substance that primes is formed from English prime + -er,[2][5][6][4][14] although the OED notes that the verb is recorded slightly later than the noun.[2] The verb prime, to charge a gun, is probably from the adjective prime, first.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A priming wire for keeping open the touchhole of a cannon: 1497, in naval accounts of Henry VII.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The priming wire was obsolete by the early 19th century.[2] A substance used to prime wood, metal or canvas, or a coat of it, is recorded from before 1650 in the OED,[2] from 1688 in Barnhart[5] and in Etymonline from the 1680s.[4] From 1819 a primer was a cap or cylinder of a compound that ignites the charge of a cartridge or explosive when struck or fired.[2][4] The 20th century added a device that supplies a burst of fuel to start an engine (1916), and in biochemistry a molecule, such as a short strand of nucleic acid, from which a longer chain is built up (1954).[2]

Timeline

  • 1497 – a priming wire for a cannon (obsolete).[2][5]
  • before 1650 – a substance used to prime a surface; a first coat.[2]
  • 1819 – a cap that ignites an explosive charge.[2][4]
  • 1916 – a device for priming an engine with fuel.[2]
  • 1954 – in biochemistry, a molecule that starts the synthesis of a larger one.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A first coat of paint, size or the like, put on a surface to seal it or help later coats stick: Two coats of primer went on the fence.[10][2][14]
  2. A cap, tube or other device containing a compound that ignites the main charge of a cartridge, shell or explosive.[10][14][2]
  3. A device that pumps fuel into an engine to make it start.[2][14]
  4. (biochemistry) A molecule, especially a short strand of DNA or RNA, from which a longer chain is synthesized.[2]
  5. A person or thing that primes.[10]

Usage notes

The OED notes that the pronunciation /ˈprɪmə/ is the original one for the book and is still usual for the type sizes, while /ˈpraɪmə/ for the book seems to be first recorded in British dictionaries of the late 19th century.[2] Merriam-Webster gives /ˈprɪmər/ for the book, with /ˈpraɪ-/ as chiefly British, and /ˈpraɪmər/ for the priming device.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster