Dictionary.com
definitions

great primer

noun Printing.
  1. an 18-point type of a size larger than Columbian, formerly used for Bibles.

Origin of great primer

First recorded in 1675–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for great primer

Historical Examples of great primer

  • It was not until 1757 that he published his first work, a Virgil in royal quarto, with great-primer letters.

    This Simian World

    Clarence Day

  • I saw all this as plainly as if it had all been printed in great-primer type, instead of working itself out in her features.

    The Poet at the Breakfast Table

    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

British Dictionary definitions for great primer

great primer

noun
  1. (formerly) a size of printer's type approximately equal to 18 point
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012