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Added 9 October 2026

first

/fɜːst/ noun

Categories: Describing WordsTimeEveryday Words

In Latin: prīmus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about first at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. The first or highest in an ordering or series.
    He wanted to be the first
  2. The first element in a countable series.
    the first of the month
  3. The time at which something is supposed to begin.
    they got an early start

adjective

  1. Preceding all others in time or space or degree.
    the first house on the right
  2. Indicating the beginning unit in a series.
  3. Serving to set in motion.
    the magazine's inaugural issue

adverb

  1. Before anything else.
    first we must consider the garter snake
  2. The initial time.
    when Felix first saw a garter snake
  3. Before another in time, space, or importance.
    I was here first

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: originalinitialfirstlybasicprimepremierintroductoryinitiativeprototypic

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