An archaic or dialectal word for the alphabet or the basic elements of reading and writing.
From the Middle English absey or absey-book, which came from the practice of teaching the alphabet by saying 'A-B-C' aloud. Possibly influenced by 'abacus.' The word is a corruption of the alphabet sequence itself.
Medieval 'absey-books' were the very first children's primers and textbooks, and archaeologists have found examples from the 15th century—they're basically the ancestors of every 'Dick and Jane' reader and alphabet flashcard ever made.
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