Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗noun
The person or thing in the first position. · The first gear of an engine. · Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence. · First base.
adj
Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest. · Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest. · Of or belonging to a first family. · Coming right after the zeroth in things that use zero-based numbering.
adv
Before anything else; firstly. · For the first time.
verb
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryTo propose (a new motion) in a meeting, which must subsequently be seconded.
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 (pắrvi), пръ́в (prắv, “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”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*preh₂-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionfirstenm
- Inherited-form mentionfyrestang
- Inherited-form mention*furistgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*furistazgem-pro · first, foremost
- Derivation mention*furaigem-pro
- Derivation mention*preh₂-ine-pro · before
- Cognate mentionfirstsco · first
- Cognate mentionvoorstenl · foremost, first
- Cognate mentionFürstde · chief, prince
- Cognate mentionVürschli · prince
- Cognate mentionviischtlb · anterior; forward
- Cognate mentionfiyśtwym
- Cognate mentionfyrstnn
- Cognate mentionförstsv · first
- Cognate mentionprīncepsla · first, foremost; chief
- Cognate mentionπαρ'el
- Cognate mention𐀞𐀫gmy · from
- Cognate mentionparësq · first; chief, main
- Cognate mentionpyrmaisltg · first
- Cognate mentionpirmaislv · first; foremost
- Cognate mentionpirmaslt · first; primary
- Cognate mentionпъ́рвиbg
- Cognate mentionпрвmk
- Cognate mentionpiersypl
- Cognate mentionпе́рвыйru · first
- Cognate mentionпр̑вӣsh
- Cognate mentionprvisl · first
- Cognate mentionհարավhy · south
- Cognate mention𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀ae · before, first
- Cognate mentionpärwatxto · first
- Cognate mentionparwetxb · first
- Cognate mentionपूर्वsa · before
This page abbreviates 3 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*preh₂-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "first"
},
"expansion": "Middle English first"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "fyrest"
},
"expansion": "Old English fyrest"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*furist"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *furist"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*furistaz",
"t": "first, foremost"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“first, foremost”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*furai"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *furai"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*preh₂-",
"t": "before"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before”)"
},
{
"name": "suffix",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fore",
"3": "est",
"nocat": "1"
},
"expansion": "fore + -est"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cog"
},
"expansion": "Cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "first",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Scots first (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "voorste",
"t": "foremost, first"
},
"expansion": "Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Fürst",
"t": "chief, prince",
"lit": "first (born)"
},
"expansion": "German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "li",
"2": "Vürsch",
"t": "prince"
},
"expansion": "Limburgish Vürsch (“prince”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lb",
"2": "viischt",
"t": "anterior; forward"
},
"expansion": "Luxembourgish viischt (“anterior; forward”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "wym",
"2": "fiyśt"
},
"expansion": "Vilamovian fiyśt"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb",
"2": "først",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Danish and Norwegian Bokmål først (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo,is",
"2": "fyrstur",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic fyrstur (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "fyrst"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "först",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Swedish först (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "prīnceps",
"t": "first, foremost; chief"
},
"expansion": "Latin prīnceps (“first, foremost; chief”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "el",
"2": "παρ'"
},
"expansion": "Greek παρ’ (par’)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmy",
"2": "𐀞𐀫",
"t": "from"
},
"expansion": "Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀫 (pa-ro, “from”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sq",
"2": "parë",
"t": "first; chief, main"
},
"expansion": "Albanian parë (“first; chief, main”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ltg",
"2": "pyrmais",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Latgalian pyrmais (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lv",
"2": "pirmais",
"t": "first; foremost"
},
"expansion": "Latvian pirmais (“first; foremost”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lt",
"2": "pirmas",
"t": "first; primary"
},
"expansion": "Lithuanian pirmas (“first; primary”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "bg",
"2": "пъ́рви"
},
"expansion": "Bulgarian пъ́рви (pắrvi)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cs,sk",
"2": "prvý",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Czech and Slovak prvý (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "mk",
"2": "прв"
},
"expansion": "Macedonian прв (prv)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "pl",
"2": "piersy"
},
"expansion": "Polish piersy"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ru",
"2": "пе́рвый",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Russian пе́рвый (pérvyj, “first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sh",
"2": "пр̑вӣ"
},
"expansion": "Serbo-Croatian пр̑вӣ"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sl",
"2": "prvi",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Slovene prvi (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "hy",
"2": "հարավ",
"t": "south"
},
"expansion": "Armenian հարավ (harav, “south”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ae",
"2": "𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀",
"t": "before, first"
},
"expansion": "Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀 (paᵘruua, “before, first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "xto",
"2": "pärwat",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Tocharian A pärwat (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "txb",
"2": "parwe",
"t": "first"
},
"expansion": "Tocharian B parwe (“first”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sa",
"2": "पूर्व",
"t": "before"
},
"expansion": "Sanskrit पूर्व (pūrva, “before”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"first",
"first#Middle_English"
],
[
"furst",
"furst#Middle_English"
],
[
"ferst",
"ferst#Middle_English"
],
[
"fyrst",
"fyrst#Middle_English"
],
[
"fyrest",
"fyrest#Old_English"
],
[
"*furist",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/furist"
],
[
"*furistaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/furistaz"
],
[
"*furai",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/furai"
],
[
"*furi",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/furi"
],
[
"*preh₂-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/preh₂-"
],
[
"*per-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/per-"
],
[
"fore",
"fore#English"
],
[
"-est",
"-est#English"
],
[
"first",
"first#Scots"
],
[
"voorste",
"voorste#Dutch"
],
[
"vorst",
"vorst#Dutch"
],
[
"Fürst",
"Fürst#German"
],
[
"Vürsch",
"Vürsch#Limburgish"
],
[
"viischt",
"viischt#Luxembourgish"
],
[
"fiyśt",
"fiyśt#Vilamovian"
],
[
"fjəšt",
"fjəšt#Vilamovian"
],
[
"fjyśt",
"fjyśt#Vilamovian"
],
[
"fjyšt",
"fjyšt#Vilamovian"
],
[
"Danish",
"først#Danish"
],
[
"først",
"først#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"Faroese",
"fyrstur#Faroese"
],
[
"fyrstur",
"fyrstur#Icelandic"
],
[
"fyrst",
"fyrst#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"først",
"først#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"först",
"först#Swedish"
],
[
"prīnceps",
"princeps#Latin"
],
[
"παρ’",
"παρ'#Greek"
],
[
"παρά",
"παρά#Greek"
],
[
"𐀞𐀫",
"𐀞𐀫#Mycenaean_Greek"
],
[
"parë",
"parë#Albanian"
],
[
"pyrmais",
"pyrmais#Latgalian"
],
[
"pirmais",
"pirmais#Latvian"
],
[
"pirmas",
"pirmas#Lithuanian"
],
[
"пъ́рви",
"първи#Bulgarian"
],
[
"пръ́в",
"пръв#Bulgarian"
],
[
"Czech",
"prvý#Czech"
],
[
"prvý",
"prvý#Slovak"
],
[
"прв",
"прв#Macedonian"
],
[
"први",
"први#Macedonian"
],
[
"piersy",
"piersy#Polish"
],
[
"pierwszy",
"pierwszy#Polish"
],
[
"pirszy",
"pirszy#Polish"
],
[
"пе́рвый",
"первый#Russian"
],
[
"пр̑вӣ",
"први#Serbo-Croatian"
],
[
"pȓvī",
"prvi#Serbo-Croatian"
],
[
"prvi",
"prvi#Slovene"
],
[
"հարավ",
"հարավ#Armenian"
],
[
"𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀",
"𐬞𐬀𐬎𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬀#Avestan"
],
[
"pärwat",
"pärwat#Tocharian_A"
],
[
"parwe",
"parwe#Tocharian_B"
],
[
"पूर्व",
"पूर्व#Sanskrit"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"The person or thing in the first position.",
"The first gear of an engine.",
"Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.",
"First base."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable",
"countable"
],
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"rawRecordSha256": "f25f031eebe23d2dc6c4bcbd284259f4eadf5341042f81ec9eeb359358d6a6cb",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 8001
},
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.",
"Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.",
"Of or belonging to a first family.",
"Coming right after the zeroth in things that use zero-based numbering."
],
"tags": [
"no-comparative"
],
"recordId": "447f0ba3e4c2bff475a7e2cf5d7624c9f45f8e4cf4055e3ee4323e59c6c402e0",
"rawRecordSha256": "2b65558d6246bc7638e46c8dbd19c8e577464d3244bbebbcf0269473f9cc6153",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 7999
},
{
"pos": "adv",
"glosses": [
"Before anything else; firstly.",
"For the first time."
],
"tags": [
"not-comparable"
],
"recordId": "66088fe48cf8911220276a0afc698c33265159478a39c17167e2e8dc91780cf1",
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 8000
},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To propose (a new motion) in a meeting, which must subsequently be seconded."
],
"tags": [
"rare",
"transitive"
],
"recordId": "a60a4d449b955b5e56608193bf0c868055d61c6729ded8d6c1d1ee82197de611",
"rawRecordSha256": "bea1f066a7dd573a218f7b4aef48460761b2960682892162fcf0e78e0e362f02",
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],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 3,
"glosses": 0
}
}