Primary Colours. Blue, yellow, and red, from which all colours are derived.
Primero, O. E. A game at cards mentioned by Shakspeare.
Primicerii, Chr. This term had several meanings, but it was usually employed to denote the first person inscribed on a list, because the tablet on which the names were written was covered with wax; whence primicerius (from cera, wax), the first upon the wax. In cathedral churches the primicerius presided over the choir, and regulated the order and method of the ceremonies.
Priming. (See Grounds.)
Prince’s Metal or Prince Rupert’s Metal. An alloy of 72 parts of copper and 28 parts of zinc, which has a resemblance to gold.
Princedoms or Principalities, Chr. An order of Thrones of angels; usually represented in complete armour, carrying pennons. (See Fig. [24].)
Principes, R. A body of heavy-armed foot-soldiers; thus named, because, in the order of battle, they were placed first.
Principia, R. (princeps, chief, foremost). The headquarters in a Roman camp, comprising not only the tents of the general and the superior officers, but also an open space in which justice was administered and sacrifices offered to the gods; it was in the same open space that all the standards of the legion were set up.
Priory, Chr. A monastery attached, as a rule, to an abbey; there were also, however, priories which formed the head of an order. In the order of Malta each tongue comprehended several great priories.
