first meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

first

adj

UK /fɜːst/ · US /fɚst/

Etymology

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-West Germanic *furist, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“first, foremost”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *furai, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before”), from *per- (“before; first”), equivalent to fore + -est. Cognates Cognate with Scots first (“first”), Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”), vorst (“prince”), German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”), Limburgish Vürsch (“prince”), Luxembourgish viischt (“anterior; forward”), Vilamovian fiyśt, fjəšt, fjyśt, fjyšt (“prince”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål først (“first”), Faroese and Icelandic fyrstur (“first”), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst, først (“first”), Swedish först (“first”); also Latin prīnceps (“first, foremost; chief”), Greek παρ’ (par’), παρά (pará, “despite; less”), Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀫 (pa-ro, “from”), Albanian parë (“first; chief, main”), Latgalian pyrmais (“first”), Latvian pirmais (“first; foremost”), Lithuanian pirmas (“first; primary”), Bulgarian пъ́рви (pǎ́rvi), пръ́в (prǎ́v, “first”), Czech and Slovak prvý (“first”), Macedonian прв (prv), први (prvi, “first”), Polish piersy, pierwszy, pirszy (“first”), Russian пе́рвый (pérvyj, “first”), Serbo-Croatian пр̑вӣ, pȓvī (“first”), Slovene prvi (“first”), Armenian հարավ (harav, “south”), Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀 (paᵘruua, “before, first”), Tocharian A pärwat (“first”), Tocharian B parwe (“first”), Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva, “before”).

1

No comparative Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.

Hancock was first to arrive.
The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday.

4 more examples

I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race.
Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2022:
Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks.2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, page 21:

2

No comparative Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.

Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece.
the first violinist

3 more examples

1784: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.
It rose to be the first of pastoral regions, and continued until after the gold discovery to be the land of squatterdom.1880, S. W. Silver, Handbook for Australia & New Zealand, Co, page 146:
The French openings decided that satin gowns, suits, wraps and even hats were to be in first fashion this autumn.1916 September 11, Anne Rittenhouse, “Dress: One-piece Frocks of Satin in Neutral Colors, With Bits of Colored Embroidery”, in The Journal and Tribune, volume 30, number 235, Knoxville, Tenn., page 6:

3

No comparative Of or belonging to a first family.

First Cat; First Daughter; First Dog; First Son

4

No comparative Coming right after the zeroth in things that use zero-based numbering.

Related terms: for, fore

first

adv

Etymology

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-West Germanic *furist, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“first, foremost”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *furai, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before”), from *per- (“before; first”), equivalent to fore + -est. Cognates Cognate with Scots first (“first”), Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”), vorst (“prince”), German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”), Limburgish Vürsch (“prince”), Luxembourgish viischt (“anterior; forward”), Vilamovian fiyśt, fjəšt, fjyśt, fjyšt (“prince”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål først (“first”), Faroese and Icelandic fyrstur (“first”), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst, først (“first”), Swedish först (“first”); also Latin prīnceps (“first, foremost; chief”), Greek παρ’ (par’), παρά (pará, “despite; less”), Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀫 (pa-ro, “from”), Albanian parë (“first; chief, main”), Latgalian pyrmais (“first”), Latvian pirmais (“first; foremost”), Lithuanian pirmas (“first; primary”), Bulgarian пъ́рви (pǎ́rvi), пръ́в (prǎ́v, “first”), Czech and Slovak prvý (“first”), Macedonian прв (prv), први (prvi, “first”), Polish piersy, pierwszy, pirszy (“first”), Russian пе́рвый (pérvyj, “first”), Serbo-Croatian пр̑вӣ, pȓvī (“first”), Slovene prvi (“first”), Armenian հարավ (harav, “south”), Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀 (paᵘruua, “before, first”), Tocharian A pärwat (“first”), Tocharian B parwe (“first”), Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva, “before”).

1

Before anything else; firstly.

Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook.
I plunged nose first into the water.

2 more examples

That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia.2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023, page 29:

2

For the first time.

I first witnessed a death when I was nine years old.

first

noun

Etymology

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-West Germanic *furist, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“first, foremost”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *furai, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before”), from *per- (“before; first”), equivalent to fore + -est. Cognates Cognate with Scots first (“first”), Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”), vorst (“prince”), German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”), Limburgish Vürsch (“prince”), Luxembourgish viischt (“anterior; forward”), Vilamovian fiyśt, fjəšt, fjyśt, fjyšt (“prince”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål først (“first”), Faroese and Icelandic fyrstur (“first”), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst, først (“first”), Swedish först (“first”); also Latin prīnceps (“first, foremost; chief”), Greek παρ’ (par’), παρά (pará, “despite; less”), Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀫 (pa-ro, “from”), Albanian parë (“first; chief, main”), Latgalian pyrmais (“first”), Latvian pirmais (“first; foremost”), Lithuanian pirmas (“first; primary”), Bulgarian пъ́рви (pǎ́rvi), пръ́в (prǎ́v, “first”), Czech and Slovak prvý (“first”), Macedonian прв (prv), први (prvi, “first”), Polish piersy, pierwszy, pirszy (“first”), Russian пе́рвый (pérvyj, “first”), Serbo-Croatian пр̑вӣ, pȓvī (“first”), Slovene prvi (“first”), Armenian հարավ (harav, “south”), Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀 (paᵘruua, “before, first”), Tocharian A pärwat (“first”), Tocharian B parwe (“first”), Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva, “before”).

7 senses

1The person or thing in the first position.
2The first gear of an engine.
3Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.
4First base.
5A first-class honours degree.
6A first-edition copy of some publication.
7A fraction whose (integer) denominator ends in the digit 1.

1

The person or thing in the first position.

He was the first to complete the course.
Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations:

2

The first gear of an engine.

3

Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.

This is a first. For once he has nothing to say.
I remember other firsts: how I wussily asked her out the first time, and the first time I told her I loved her.2020, Jim Pace, Should We Fire God?:

4

Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports First base.

There was a close play at first.

5

UK, Colloquial A first-class honours degree.

[Stephen Hawking] […] would go to Cambridge, he said, if they gave him a first, and stay at Oxford if they gave him a second. He got a first.2004, William H. Cropper, Great Physicists, page 454:

6

Colloquial A first-edition copy of some publication.

7

In compounds A fraction whose (integer) denominator ends in the digit 1.

one forty-first of the estate

first

verb

Etymology

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-West Germanic *furist, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“first, foremost”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *furai, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before”), from *per- (“before; first”), equivalent to fore + -est. Cognates Cognate with Scots first (“first”), Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”), vorst (“prince”), German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”), Limburgish Vürsch (“prince”), Luxembourgish viischt (“anterior; forward”), Vilamovian fiyśt, fjəšt, fjyśt, fjyšt (“prince”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål først (“first”), Faroese and Icelandic fyrstur (“first”), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst, først (“first”), Swedish först (“first”); also Latin prīnceps (“first, foremost; chief”), Greek παρ’ (par’), παρά (pará, “despite; less”), Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀫 (pa-ro, “from”), Albanian parë (“first; chief, main”), Latgalian pyrmais (“first”), Latvian pirmais (“first; foremost”), Lithuanian pirmas (“first; primary”), Bulgarian пъ́рви (pǎ́rvi), пръ́в (prǎ́v, “first”), Czech and Slovak prvý (“first”), Macedonian прв (prv), први (prvi, “first”), Polish piersy, pierwszy, pirszy (“first”), Russian пе́рвый (pérvyj, “first”), Serbo-Croatian пр̑вӣ, pȓvī (“first”), Slovene prvi (“first”), Armenian հարավ (harav, “south”), Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀 (paᵘruua, “before, first”), Tocharian A pärwat (“first”), Tocharian B parwe (“first”), Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva, “before”).

1

Rare To propose (a new motion) in a meeting, which must subsequently be seconded.

This motion has been firsted and seconded. I desire to third it.1828, Diary of Thomas Burton, Esq. Member in the Parliaments of Oliver and Richard Cromwell, from 1656 to 1659: […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 290:
Sure—er—well, the motion was firsted and seconded that we kick ’em out; […]1920, Rural Manhood, volume 11, page 241, column 1:

1 more example

Sure, Brother Severn, I second that motion. If you hadn’t got ahead of me I’d have firsted it myself.1922, Grace Livingston Hill, The City of Fire, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, page 139:

Derived terms: 339 terms
AI-first, airman first class, at first, at first bluff, at first blush, at first glance, at first hand, at first sight, at the first, at the first brunt, blink first, book of first entry, breadth-first search, cast the first stone, ceremonial first pitch, chief petty officer first class, cloud-first, code-first, come first, court of first instance, database-first, dead first, depth-first search, deputy first minister, director of first impressions, double first, double first cousin, eighty-first, error of the first kind, facefirst, face first, feet first, feetfirst, feet-first, fifty-first, fifty-first state, first aid, first-aid box, first-aider, first-aid kit, first aid kit, first among equals, first and foremost, first and last, first angle projection, first annual, first arch syndrome, first article, first baseman, first basing, first best, first bite free, first blood, firstborn, first-born, first call, First Cat, first catch your hare, first cause, first chair, first-chance exception, first choice, first-chop, First Citizen, first city, first-class citizen, first-class continuation, first-class entity, first-class, first class, first class match, first-class object, first-class value, first come, first served, first-come-first-served, first come first served, firstcomer, first conditional, first contact, first cosmic velocity, first cousin, first cousin once removed, first cousin thrice removed, first cousin twice removed, first cranial nerve, first cross-cousin, First day, first-day cover, first day cover, first death, first declension, first-degree, first-degree burn, first-degree murder, first-degree relative, first derivative, first dibs, first digit, first division, first down, first edition, first eleven, firster, first e-rights, first estate, first-ever, first exit time, first fiddle, first fifteen, first finger, first-fit, first five-eighth, first flight, first flight cover, first floor, first flush, first folio, first-foot, first-footing, first footing, first freedom rights, First French Empire, firstfruit, first fruits, first fundamental form, first gear, first-generation, first gentleman, first grade, first grader, First Guy, first-half, first half, firsthand, first hand, first-hand, First Happy Time, first hit time, firsthood, First Hungarian Republic, First Husband, firstie, first imperative, first impression, first in first out, first inversion, First Island Chain, first island chain, first isomorphism theorem, First Lady, first lady, first language, first leg, first lieutenant, first light, first-line, firstling, First Lord, first loser, first love, firstly, First Man, first mate, first mile, first milk, first minister, First Month, first mover, first-mover disadvantage, first name, First Nation, First Nations, firstness, first night, first-nighter, first normal form, first notice day, first of all, first off, first officer, first-of-its-kind, first of never, first olive out of the bottle, first olive out of the jar, first-order, first-order hold, first-order logic, first order of the day, first-order spectrum, first order stream, first palatalization, first party, first-party, first-party cookie, first-party logistics, first-passage time, first passage time, first past the post, first-person, first person, first-personal, first-person dual, first-person plural, first-person shooter, first-person singular, first philosophy, first pick, first point of Aries, first point of Cancer, first point of Capricorn, first point of Libra, First Pooch, first port of call, first position, First Presidency, first principle, first principles, first quarter, first rain, first-rate, first rate, first reader, first reading, first receiver, first responder, first return time, firstripe, first-run, first-sale doctrine, first sale doctrine, first school, First Sea Lord, first sergeant, first session, first shift, first sleep, first slip, First Son, Firstspace, first strike, first string, first-string, first-stringer, first success distribution, first team, first-teamer, first thing, first things first, first time, first-time, first-time buyer, first-timer, first touch, first truth, first unit, first up, first violin, first violinist, first watch, first water, first-wave feminism, first-waver, first woman, first world problem, first-year, first year, forty-first, first to last, the first, get to first base, half first cousin, half-first cousin, have the first idea, headfirst, head-first, head first, Healey's first law of holes, health is your first wealth, if at first you don't succeed, interfirst, in the first instance, in the first place, ladies first, last in first out, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, let him that is without sin cast the first stone, let him who is without sin cast the first stone, local-first, love at first sight, make the first move, mobile-first, model-first, murder in the first degree, Newton's first law, ninety-first, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, nose-first, not have the first idea, not if I see you first, not one's first rodeo, of the first water, on a first-name basis, on first-name terms, party of the first part, people-first language, perpetual motion machine of the first kind, petty officer first class, pinch and a punch for the first of the month, play first fiddle, private first class, put one's own oxygen mask on first, put one's oxygen mask on first, right of first refusal, safety first, sergeant first class, seventy-first, ship of the line ensign first class, ship-of-the-line ensign first class, shoot first and ask questions later, single-first cousin, sixty-first, splendid first strike, standfirst, tender-first, the first step is always the hardest, the first turn of the screw pays all debts, there's a first time for everything, thirty-first, time first, to a first approximation, touch-first, tribunal of first instance, twenty-first, webfirst, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive, what was your first clue, who's on first, women and children first
Related terms: primary, primus inter pares

first

noun

Etymology From Middle English first, furst, fyrst, from Old English fyrst, fierst, first (“period, space of time, time, respite, truce”), from Proto-Germanic *frestaz, *fristiz, *frestą (“date, appointed time”), from Proto-Indo-European *pres-, *per- (“forward, forth, over, beyond”). Cognate with North Frisian ferst, frest (“period, time”), German Frist (“period, deadline, term”), Swedish frist (“deadline, respite, reprieve, time-limit”), Icelandic frestur (“period”). See also frist.

1

Obsolete Time; time granted; respite.

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