primage

English

Etymology 1

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

Noun

primage (countable and uncountable, plural primages)

1. (archaic) A payment made for loading or unloading a ship, or for care of goods during transit by ship.
   • 1818, John Adolphus, The Political State of the British Empire, volume 3, page 197:

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

2. (archaic, UK) An import duty levied by a guild of harbour pilots (especially at Kingston-upon-Hull and Newcastle-upon-Tyne).
3. (Australia, New Zealand) An 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.

Further reading

• Primage in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Etymology 2

From prime +‎ -age.

Noun

primage (countable and uncountable, plural primages)

1. (engineering, rare) Droplets of water suspended in steam (especially in the cylinder of a steam engine).
   • 1883, Emory Edwards, Modern American Locomotive Engines: Their Design, Construction and Management, page 75:

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

Anagrams

• epigram