erst
advEtymology From Middle English erste, from Old English ǣresta (“first”), from Proto-West Germanic *airist (“earliest, first”), equivalent to ere + -est. Cognate with North Frisian iarst, iáárs, jarst, jest (“first”), West Frisian earst (“first”), Dutch eerste (“first”), German erste (“first”).
1
Obsolete First of all, before (some other specified thing).
- Consider what I erst have been and what thou seest me now:1567, Arthur Golding, Ovid's Metamorphoses, book 2, line 691:
2
Obsolete Sooner (than); before.
- Thenne he sente the varlet ageyne and bad hym telle Kyng Mark that I wille come as soone as I am hole / for erste I maye doo hym noo good "Then he sent the varlet again, and bade him: Tell King Mark that I will come as soon as I am whole, for erst I may do him no good. "1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxviij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
- When lofty trees I see barren of leaves Which erst from heat did canopy the herd1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 12”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- erstwhile