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primer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Primer

English

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Etymology 1

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    From Middle English primer, primere, from Medieval Latin primarius and primarium (prayer book) possibly via Anglo-Norman primer (prayer book), from prima (prime the liturgical hour and office) + -arius and -arium (suffix forming related objects). Its use for schoolbooks derived from the late medieval and early modern use of such prayer books to teach reading.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    primer (plural primers)

    1. (historical, Catholicism ecclesiastical) A prayer or devotional book intended for laity, initially an abridgment of the breviary and manual including the hours of the Virgin Mary, 15 gradual and 7 penitential psalms, the litany, the placebo and dirige forming the office of the dead, and the commendations.
      Synonyms: book of hours, prayer book
    2. (historical, Protestantism ecclesiastical) Any of various similar works issued in England for private prayer in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer.
    3. A children's book intended to teach literacy: how to read, write, and spell.
      • 1545, The A.B.C. Primers:
      • 1995, Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age [] , New York: Bantam Spectra, →ISBN:
        Four-year-old Elizabeth Finkle-McGraw would receive the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer from her grandfather. Fiona Hackworth would be getting a copy of the Illustrated Primer too, for this had been John Percival Hackworth's crime: He had programmed the matter compiler to place the cockleburs on the outside of Elizabeth's book.
    4. An introductory text on any subject, particularly basic concepts.
      • 1959 March, “New Reading on Railways: The Railwayman's Diesel Manual. By William F. Bolton. G. H. Lake. 7s. 6d.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 172:
        [...] The two assets of the book are clear explanation, and a multitude of extremely helpful diagrams, some in two colours, and cutaway photographs; these clearly unravel a difficult subject for the layman, as well as the student engineman for whom the primer is chiefly designed.
    5. (New Zealand, obsolete) An elementary school class; an elementary school student.
    Derived terms
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    Translations
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    Etymology 2

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      From prime + -er.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      primer (countable and uncountable, plural primers)

      1. Any substance or device, such as priming wire or blasting cap, used to ignite gunpowder or other explosive.
        • 1912, United States Army Ordnance Dept, Handbook of the 2.95-inch mountain gun mate/riel and pack outfit, →ISBN, page 17:
          The percussion primer, known as the “ 110-grain percussion primer,” contains an igniting charge of 95 grains of black powder in addition to the essential elements of a percussion primer.
        • 2003, Sam Fadala, The Gun Digest Blackpowder Loading Manual, →ISBN, page 73:
          Therefore, the shotgun primer is quite self- contained. It consists of a separate metal cup called a battery cup that contains the primer itself. That's why it is considered a two-piece primer.
        • 2016, Steve Sieberts, Gun Digest Shooter's Guide to Competitive Pistol Shooting, →ISBN, page 224:
          Take care when handling primers, especially ensure that your fingers are free of oil or dirt. Oil can affect the detonating properties of the primer pellet, and can be the cause of misfires if too much oil gets into the primer.
      2. (obsolete) A person who primes explosives.
      3. A substance used to prime wood, metal, etc. in preparation for painting.
      4. A layer of such a substance.
      5. A layer of makeup that goes beneath the foundation; undermakeup.
        • 1989, Stan Place, Bobbi Ray Madry, The Art and Science of Professional Makeup, →ISBN, page 95:
          The undermakeup (primer) should be allowed to dry-set for 30 seconds. Apply foundation over the primer with a sponge using light, careful strokes to blend. Undermakeups come in cream form, sponge-on wands, or sponge-on cream, and as a lotion.
      6. (obsolete) A person who primes wood, metal, etc.
      7. (biochemistry, genetics) A molecule which initiates the synthesis of an enzyme, (especially) a single-stranded nucleic acid molecule which initiates DNA replication.
      8. (medicine, zoology) A pheromone which interacts first with the endocrine system.
      9. A device used to prime an internal combustion engine with gasoline, (especially) in airplanes.
      10. A person who prunes trees.
      Derived terms
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      Descendants
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      • Dutch: primer
      Translations
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      The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

      Etymology 3

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        From Anglo-Norman primer (first), from Latin prīmārius (first).

        Adjective

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        primer (not comparable)

        1. (obsolete) First in time, initial, early.
        2. (obsolete) First in importance, premier.
        3. (obsolete, rare) First in position, foremost.
        Derived terms
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        Further reading

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        Catalan

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        Catalan numbers (edit)
        10[a], [b], [c]
        1 2  →  10  → [a], [b], [c]
            Cardinal: u, un
            Ordinal: primer
            Ordinal abbreviation: 1r

        Etymology

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        Inherited from Old Catalan primer, from Latin prīmārius.

        Pronunciation

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        Adjective

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        primer (feminine primera, masculine plural primers, feminine plural primeres)

        1. (ordinal number) first
        2. (mathematics) prime (having no divisor except itself and 1):

        Derived terms

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        Adverb

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        primer

        1. first; before anything else

        References

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        Dutch

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        Pronunciation

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        Etymology 1

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        Borrowed from English primer.

        Noun

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        primer m (plural primers, no diminutive)

        1. primer (substance used to prime wood, metal, etc. in preparation for painting)
          Synonym: grondverf
        2. (cosmetics) primer (layer of makeup that goes beneath the foundation; undermakeup)
        Derived terms
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        Etymology 2

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        See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

        Verb

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        primer

        1. inflection of primeren:
          1. first-person singular present indicative
          2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
          3. imperative

        References

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        Further reading

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        French

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        Pronunciation

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        Verb

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        primer

        1. to dominate, to be dominant over
        2. to win (a prize)
        3. to prevail, take precedent

        Conjugation

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        Further reading

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        Hungarian

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        Etymology

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        From German primär, from French primaire, from Latin primarius.[1]

        Pronunciation

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        • IPA(key): [ˈprimɛr]
        • Hyphenation: pri‧mer
        • Rhymes: -ɛr

        Adjective

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        primer (comparative primerebb, superlative legprimerebb)

        1. primary
          primer feszültségprimary voltage

        Declension

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        References

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        1. ^ István Tótfalusi (2005), Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára [A Storehouse of Foreign Words: An Explanatory and Etymological Dictionary of Foreign Words], Budapest: Tinta, →ISBN

        Further reading

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        • primer in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

        Indonesian

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        Etymology

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        From Dutch primair, from French primaire, from Latin prīmārius.

        Pronunciation

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        Adjective

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        primèr (comparative lebih primer, superlative paling primer)

        1. primary:
          1. first or earliest in a group or series
          2. main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others

        Alternative forms

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        Further reading

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        Old French

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        Adjective

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        primer m (oblique and nominative feminine singular primere)

        1. alternative form of premier

        Adverb

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        primer

        1. alternative form of premier

        Noun

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        primer oblique singularm (oblique plural primers, nominative singular primers, nominative plural primer)

        1. alternative form of premier
        2. (Anglo-Norman) primer (hymn book)

        References

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        Portuguese

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        Um primer

        Etymology

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          Unadapted borrowing from English primer.

          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          primer m

          1. primer (layer of makeup)
          2. (molecular biology) primer (molecule required for replication of DNA)
            Synonym: iniciador
          3. (Brazil) primer (substance used to prime a surface for painting)
            Synonym: (Portugal) primário

          Further reading

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          Serbo-Croatian

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          Alternative forms

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          Pronunciation

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          • IPA(key): /prǐːmer/
          • Hyphenation: pri‧mer

          Noun

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          prímer m inan (Cyrillic spelling при́мер)

          1. example, instance
          2. model, paragon
          3. precedence

          Declension

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          Declension of primer
          singular plural
          nominative primer primeri
          genitive primera primera
          dative primeru primerima
          accusative primer primere
          vocative primeru primeri
          locative primeru primerima
          instrumental primerom primerima

          Derived terms

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          Slovene

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          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          primẹ̑r m inan

          1. example (something representative of a group)

          Declension

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          Unknown tone or non-tonal
          The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
          Masculine inan., hard o-stem
          nom. sing. primér
          gen. sing. priméra
          singular dual plural
          nominative
          (imenovȃlnik)
          primér priméra priméri
          genitive
          (rodȋlnik)
          priméra primérov primérov
          dative
          (dajȃlnik)
          priméru priméroma primérom
          accusative
          (tožȋlnik)
          primér priméra primére
          locative
          (mẹ̑stnik)
          priméru primérih primérih
          instrumental
          (orọ̑dnik)
          primérom priméroma priméri

          Derived terms

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          Spanish

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          Spanish numbers (edit)
          1
              Cardinal: uno
              Apocopated cardinal: un
              Ordinal: primero
              Apocopated ordinal: primer
              Ordinal abbreviation: 1.º
              Multiplier: simple
              Distributive: sendos

          Pronunciation

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          • IPA(key): /pɾiˈmeɾ/ [pɾiˈmeɾ]
          • Rhymes: -eɾ
          • Syllabification: pri‧mer

          Adjective

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          primer m (apocopate, standard form primero)

          1. (before the noun) apocopic form of primero (first)
            el primer hijothe first child
            • 2025 April 30, Bryan Mena, “Economía de EE.UU. cae en primer trimestre y se acerca a la recesión por los abruptos cambios de política de Trump”, in CNN en Español[1], archived from the original on 5 June 2025:
              El producto bruto interno (PBI), que mide todos los bienes y servicios producidos en la economía, registró una tasa anualizada de -0,3 % en el primer trimestre, dijo este miércoles el Departamento de Comercio.
              (please add an English translation of this quotation)
          2. (informal, proscribed) apocopic form of primera (first)

          Usage notes

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          • The form primer is only used before and within the noun phrase of a modified masculine singular noun. In other positions, the standard form primero is used instead.

          Further reading

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          primer
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