1. a primer or elementary textbook for teaching children to read
Usage: historical
2. a basic handbook or manual covering fundamental principles of a subject

Examples

• The colonial schoolchildren learned their letters from a simple hornbook.
• In early America, the hornbook was often a child’s first introduction to reading.
• The law student consulted a contracts hornbook to review the basic principles.
• She bought a hornbook on constitutional law to prepare for the bar exam.
• The professor recommended using a hornbook alongside the casebook for better understanding.
• Historical hornbooks were made of wood and covered with a thin sheet of horn for protection.