hornbook

hornbook
/hawrn"book'/, n.
1. a leaf or page containing the alphabet, religious materials, etc., covered with a sheet of transparent horn and fixed in a frame with a handle, formerly used in teaching children to read.
2. a primer or book of rudiments.
[1580-90; HORN + BOOK]

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      form of children's primer common in both England and America from the late 16th to the late 18th century. A sheet containing the letters of the alphabet was mounted on a wooden frame and protected with thin, transparent plates of horn. The frame was shaped like a table-tennis paddle, had a handle, and was usually hung at the child's belt. The earliest sheets were of vellum; later they were of paper. They contained first a large cross, from which the hornbook was called the Christ's Cross row, or crisscross row. The alphabet in large and small letters followed. The vowels then formed a line, and their combinations with the consonants were given in a tabular form. The usual blessing—“In the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost, Amen”—followed, then the Lord's Prayer, the whole concluding with the Roman numerals.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Hornbook — Horn book , n. 1. The first book for children, or that from which in former times they learned their letters and rudiments; so called because a sheet of horn covered the small, thin board of oak, or the slip of paper, on which the alphabet,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hornbook — [hôrn′book΄] n. 1. a sheet of parchment with the alphabet, a table of numbers, etc. on it, mounted on a small board with a handle and protected by a thin, transparent plate of horn: it was formerly used as a child s primer 2. an elementary… …   English World dictionary

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  • hornbook — noun a) A single page containing the alphabet, covered with a sheet of transparent horn, formerly used for teaching children to read.<ref name= ADPM def >The [ …   Wiktionary

  • hornbook — A primer; a book explaining the basics, fundamentals or rudiments of any science or branch of knowledge. The phrase hornbook law is a colloquial designation of the rudiments or general principles of law. Popular reference to a series of textbooks …   Black's law dictionary

  • hornbook — A primer; a book explaining the basics, fundamentals or rudiments of any science or branch of knowledge. The phrase hornbook law is a colloquial designation of the rudiments or general principles of law. Popular reference to a series of textbooks …   Black's law dictionary

  • hornbook law — n. General principles of law that are widely known and not questioned; see also black letter law The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008. hornbook law …   Law dictionary

  • hornbook — noun Date: circa 1595 1. a child s primer consisting of a sheet of parchment or paper protected by a sheet of transparent horn 2. a rudimentary treatise …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • hornbook — Synonyms and related words: abecedarium, abecedary, alphabet, alphabet book, and arithmetic, basics, battledore, casebook, elementary education, elements, exercise book, first principles, first steps, gradus, grammar, induction, initiation,… …   Moby Thesaurus

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