primstaffn.

Etymology: < a form in a Scandinavian language (compare Norwegian primstav , Swedish primstav (1722 as †primstaf ), Danish primstav (a1719 or earlier)) < the Scandinavian base of Swedish prim new moon (see prime n.¹) + the Scandinavian base of Swedish stav staff, stick (see staff n.¹). The Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish compounds all denote a special kind of runic calendar or almanac, consisting of a long flat stick (or occasionally other flat piece of wood) with markings engraved on its side which could be used to compute dates, festival days, and phases of the moon. Compare rune-staff n., rim-stock n.Compare Old Icelandic prímstafir (plural) golden numbers used in calendars (in the 12th-cent. text Rímbeygla; < prím new moon (see prime n.¹) + stafir , plural of stafr letter (see staff n.¹)), which has been suggested to be a calque on post-classical Latin characteres primarum (plural), short for characteres primarum lunarum (plural), lit. ‘characters of the first, i.e. new, moons’ (compare prime n.¹ 5). However, this supposed Latin model is apparently only attested much later, as an editorial gloss of the Old Icelandic word in the first modern edition of the Rímbeygla (Copenhagen, 1780). If there is any continuity between the modern Scandinavian words and Old Icelandic prímstafir (plural), it seems likely that the modern Scandinavian words result from reinterpretation of the second element of the Old Icelandic compound as meaning ‘staff’ (compare staff n.¹ I.). In form primestaff after prime n.¹