hornbook

[ hawrn-boo k ]
/ ˈhɔrnˌbʊk /
SEE 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.

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Origin of hornbook

First recorded in 1580–90; horn + book

Words nearby hornbook

hornbag, hornbeam, hornbill, hornblende, hornblende schist, hornbook, hornby, horne, horned, horned cucumber, horned frog
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to hornbook

debut, installation, opening, addition, presentation, inauguration, launch, initiation, preface, establishment, influx, ingress, awakening, insertion, primer, lead, prelude, admittance, lead-in, induction

Example sentences from the Web for hornbook

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