primage

P3R1I1M3A1G2E1

noun

A payment made for loading or unloading a ship, or for care of goods during transit by ship.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

primage1

nounprimage (countable and uncountable, plural primages)

plural primages

  1. archaiccountableuncountableA payment made for loading or unloading a ship, or for care of goods during transit by ship.

    By the bill of lading the maſter undertakes to deliver the goods on payment of freight with primage and average accuſtomed.

    1818, John Adolphus, The Political State of the British Empire, volume 3, page 197
  2. UKarchaiccountableuncountableAn import duty levied by a guild of harbour pilots (especially at Kingston-upon-Hull and Newcastle-upon-Tyne).
  3. AustraliaNew ZealandcountableuncountableAn additional import duty levied by customs.

    1932, E. T. McPhee (Commonwealth Statistician), Official Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia: No. 25 - 1932, The rate of primage duty was subsequently increased to 4 per cent. as from the 6th November, 1930.

primage2

nounprimage (countable and uncountable, plural primages)

plural primages

  1. countablerareuncountableengineeringDroplets of water suspended in steam (especially in the cylinder of a steam engine).

    Of these temperatures, only one, the second, indicates primage; all others exhibit a slight superheat.

    1883, Emory Edwards, Modern American Locomotive Engines: Their Design, Construction and Management, page 75

Origin

primage · noun

  1. Late Latinprimagium
  2. Englishprimage

From Late Latin primagium. (The French word post-dates the English.)

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

primage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primage

MLA

“primage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primage. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “primage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primage.

Source: primage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.