first

1st

Meaning

1. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.
2. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
3. Of or belonging to a first family.
4. Coming right after the zeroth in things that use zero-based numbering.

beginning

at the beginning

in the beginning

begin with

from the beginning

for the first time

go first

be first

first-class honours degree

number 1

starting time

start with

in the front

before anything else

go before

the first

very first

be in front

earlier than

for now

msinly

first-order

without preparation

relative time

imprimis

first aid

in preference

first trip

by preference

being at the beginning

being in front

those coming first

one-spot

by choice

having first

in a little while

having previously

the first thing

wait for me

most excellent

most important

nail unguis

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fɜːst/

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-West Germanic *furist, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“foremost, first”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *fur, *fura, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *per-, *pero- (“forward, beyond, around”), equivalent to fore + -est. Cognate with North Frisian foarste (“first”), Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”), German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”), Swedish först (“first”), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst (“first”), Icelandic fyrstur (“first”). Other cognates include Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva, “first”) and Russian первый (pervyj).