Primage

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Primage \Pri"mage\ (?; 48), n. [F.] (Com.)
     A charge in addition to the freight; originally, a gratuity
     to the captain for his particular care of the goods
     (sometimes called {hat money}), but now belonging to the
     owners or freighters of the vessel, unless by special
     agreement the whole or part is assigned to the captain.


     --Homans.
     [1913 Webster]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PRIMAGE, merc. law. A duty payable to the master and mariner of a ship or 
  vessel; to the master for the use of his cables and ropes to discharge the 
  goods of the merchant; to the mariners for lading and unlading in any port 
  or haven. Merch. Dict. h.t.; Abb. on Ship. 270. 
       2. This payment appears to be of very ancient date, and to be variously 
  regulated in different voyages and trades. It is sometimes called the 
  master's hat money. 3 Chit. Com. Law, 431.