prayer bookn.
/ˈprɛː bʊk/, U.S. /ˈprɛr ˌbʊk/ 1. A book containing prayers, the forms of religious services, etc.; spec. (also with capital initials) the Book of Common Prayer, containing the traditional public liturgy of the Church of England.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > book (general) > service book (general) > [noun] > containing directions for worship
prayer book?1529
service book1553
directory1640
society > faith > artefacts > book (general) > service book (general) > [noun] > containing directions for worship > Anglican
prayer book?1529
Book of Common Prayer1549
service book1553
book1588
Common Prayer Book1595
liturgy1629
servicea1684
common prayer1688
?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. viii. sig. H.iiijv What a foule thynge is hit, to se a woman..for her clewe or prayer boke [L. libro precatorio], to turne the cardes.
1628 W. Prynne Briefe Suruay Mr. Cozens Ep. sig. ¶¶v Iesuiticall Treatises, or Romish prayer-bookes, Portuasses, and Mannuals.
1693 W. Congreve Old Batchelour iv. iv. 40 A Prayer-Book? Ay, this is the Devil's Pater-noster.
1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed ix. 113 The Table of Sins which is found in the Manual or other Prayer-books may be of no small Service.
1788 J. Wesley Let. 27 Sept. (1931) VIII. 94 I will send two of the Prayer-Books by the first opportunity.
1824 T. F. Dibdin Libr. Compan. 42 Editions of Prayer Books, beginning with the first impression in 1549, in folio.
1869 F. Montgomery Misunderstood ii Finding the places in his prayer-book.
1908 S. Schechter Stud. in Judaism 2nd Ser. viii. 194 Now and then a Jewish undergraduate takes advantage of his confirmation days, and freshening up his Parashah and his prayer-book, he manages to carry off a Hebrew exhibition or sizarship.
1945 D. Bolster Roll on my Twelve 91 The officers flinching in the rain and hating it all; the pages of the prayerbook fluttering untidily.
1999 C. Dexter Remorseful Day (2000) lix. 325 Morse himself had been sickened by the latest version..of the Funeral Service. Gone were those resonant cadences of the AV and the Prayer Book.
2. Nautical slang. A small piece of sandstone used for scrubbing decks, a holystone; cf. Bible n. 4. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > scouring, scrubbing, or rubbing > [noun] > implement for scouring or scrubbing > stone
scouring-stone1648
holy-stone1823
prayer book1840
Bible1867
hand bible1908
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxiii. 225 Smaller hand-stones, which the sailors call ‘prayer-books’, are used to scrub in among the crevices and narrow places.
1883 J. F. Keane On Blue-water 20 Those pieces of sandstone called ‘Bibles and prayer-books’ had been put away for next voyage.
1941 Amer. Neptune Jan. 60 The small [holystones] were about the size of one brick and were used to get into the corners: these were called ‘prayer books’.
1972 P. O'Brian Post Captain xii. 323 They reached the deck, a scene of very great activity: swabs, squeegees, holystones, prayer-books.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (esp. with reference to the Book of Common Prayer), as prayer book ceremony, prayer book service, prayer book version, etc.
ΚΠ
1650 J. Musgrave True Relation Pressures & Grievances 21 Mr. Chambers at Allhallowes, tenderer of oath for the Lord Newcastle, a Preacher for the Enemy, a Common-Prayer-book man.
1704 R. Claridge in Life & Posthumous Wks. (1726) 181 Such is the Common Prayer Book Worship.]
1827 Times 12 Mar. (Suppl.) 1/5 A very small English dictionary, bound in coloured leather, with gilt leaves, exactly in the prayer book style.
1881 in R. C. Winthrop Addr. & Speeches on Var. Occasions (1886) 195 He may have learned by that investigation that the Salem Plantation was not disposed for any Prayer Book service.
1948 W. R. Benét Reader's Encycl. 202 He gives Mrs. Potiphar solemn advice on the proper color for her prayer-book cover.
1967 Boston Herald 1 Apr. 22/1 Mrs. Harry M. Stokes will read the prayer book service.
1991 C. Durston & S. Doran Princes, Pastors & People (BNC) 87 Many individuals also displayed a strong attachment to the Prayer-Book ceremonies associated with rites of passage.
2002 Church Times 8 Feb. 9/4 Witness Article X and the Prayer Book collect for Easter Day, both of which assert the prevenience of divine grace.
C2.
Prayer Book churchman n. (also with all capital or all lower-case initials) a member of the clergy who adheres to the forms of worship set out in the Book of Common Prayer; a traditional clergyman.
ΚΠ
1885 W. M. Green Mem. J. H. Otey 7 From that time he became what till the day of his death he delighted to be called,—a ‘Prayer-Book Churchman’.
1916 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 3 June 11/4 As a prayer book churchman, I have never been in sympathy with the broad church party.
1998 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 2 June 18 He died on May 12. John Hopkins was a Prayer Book churchman of the old school.
Prayer Book Psalter n. (also with lower-case initial in the last element) the English version of the Psalms as used in the Book of Common Prayer (see quot. 1905).
ΚΠ
1856 T. Lewis Bible & Sci. 310 In connection with this, we may refer to the rendering of Psalm xc, 3, as given in the Prayer Book Psalter.
1905 W. Aldis Wright in Westm. Gaz. 29 July 2/1 Coverdale's first translation of the Bible was published in 1535, and he was employed in producing the Great Bible of 1539..and the edition of April 1540... From the versions of the Psalms which appeared in these three Bibles the Prayer~book Psalter has been formed.
1999 P. Schlicke Oxf. Reader's Compan. Dickens 52 Phrases from the translation of the Psalms contained in the Prayer Book psalter are to be found throughout Dickens's work.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.?1529