Word.ws English Dictionary

promptuary

promptuary noun: a magazine, repository, or handbook.

Noun

promptuary (plural promptuaries)

  1. (obsolete) A magazine, repository, or handbook.
  2. A device described in Napier's treatise Rabdologiæ, consisting of a large set of strips used to multiply multi-digit numbers more easily than Napier’s bones.

Adjective

promptuary (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Of or relating to preparation.
    • such things as frequently happen and come in dispute ; and this we call the promptuary way1605, Francis Bacon, “(please specify |book=1 or 2)”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas...

Forms of promptuary

pluralpromptuaries

Origin of promptuary

Latin promptuarium (“storehouse”).

Questions about promptuary

What does promptuary mean?
Promptuary means a magazine, repository, or handbook.
What part of speech is promptuary?
Promptuary can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of promptuary?
The plural of promptuary is promptuaries.

Words near promptuary in the dictionary

  1. promptresses
  2. prompts
  3. promptscript
  4. promptscripts
  5. promptuaries
  6. promptuary
  7. prompture
  8. promptures
  9. proms
  10. promulgate
  11. promulgated

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: promptuary (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “promptuary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/promptuary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.