/ · 1894 Brewer’s · P · Prime
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In the Catholic Church the first canonical hour after lauds. Milton terms sunrise “that sweet hour of prime.” (Paradise Lost, bk. v. 170.)
“All night long … came the sound of chanting . . as the monks sang the service of matins, lauds, and prime.”—Shorthouse: John Inglesant, chap. 1. p. 10.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.