hornbook

[ hawrn-boo k ]

/ ˈhɔrnˌbʊk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hornbook ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

a primer or book of rudiments.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

hornbag, hornbeam, hornbill, hornblende, hornblende schist, hornbook, hornby, horne, horned, horned cucumber, horned frog

Origin of hornbook

First recorded in 1580–90; horn + book

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hornbook

This may seem like hornbook eighth-grade civics, but it bears repeating.
A Tea Party Shock to the System|Stephen L. Carter|August 1, 2011|DAILY BEAST
But not to nod over a hornbook at the petty school—not John Shakespeare's son!
A Warwickshire Lad|George Madden Martin
For hornbook and primmer for Jenkins' girle to learn to read, 6d.
Notes and Queries for Worcestershire|John Noake
The printed cardboard battledore was a successor of the hornbook.
Child Life in Colonial Days|Alice Morse Earle

And, Captain Borroughcliffe, as you appear to be forgetting the use of your own language, here is even a hornbook for you!
The Pilot|J. Fenimore Cooper
This like the criss-cross row in the hornbook was originally Christ's cross.
Child Life in Colonial Days|Alice Morse Earle

British Dictionary definitions for hornbook

hornbook

/ (ˈhɔːnˌbʊk) /

noun

a page bearing a religious text or the alphabet, held in a frame with a thin window of flattened cattle horn over it

any elementary primer

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