first

first
\ \ [OE] As its -st ending suggests, first was originally a superlative form. Its distant ancestor was Indo-European *pro, denoting ‘before, in front’ (amongst whose other descendants to have reached English are prime and the prefix proto-).
\ \ Its Germanic offspring was *fur, *for (source also of English for and fore), from which the superlative *furistaz, literally ‘most in front’, was formed. Besides English first and the related Swedish först and Danish først (which etymologically are the equivalent of foremost), this has produced German fürst and Dutch vorstprince’.
\ \ Cf.FOR, FORE, PRIME

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • First — (f[ e]rst), a. [OE. first, furst, AS. fyrst; akin to Icel. fyrstr, Sw. & Dan. f[ o]rste, OHG. furist, G. f[ u]rst prince; a superlatiye form of E. for, fore. See {For}, {Fore}, and cf. {Formeer}, {Foremost}.] 1. Preceding all others of a series… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • First — or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one. It can also refer to:* FIRST, a science and technology competition founded by Dean Kamen * FIRST (CERT), Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams * Ruth First (1925 1982), a leading anti… …   Wikipedia

  • First TV — was the name of a cable television network that was operated in New Zealand s two main North Island cities, Auckland and Wellington by Telecom New Zealand in the 1990s.Trial stage First Media was a stupidly owned subsidiary of Telecom NZ. First… …   Wikipedia

  • First — steht für: die obere Schnittkante von zwei Dachflächen, siehe Dachfirst eine Reihe von Gipfeln eines Gebirges, siehe Gebirgskamm in der Geologie die Schicht im unmittelbaren Kontakt zum Bezugshorizont, siehe Hangendes im Bergbau für das… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • First. (EP) — First is Denise Ho s debut album.Infobox Album Name = first. (EP) Version 1 Type = EP Longtype = Artist = Denise Ho Released = March 28, 2001 Recorded = Genre = Cantopop Length = Label = Capital Artists Limited Producer = Reviews = Last album =… …   Wikipedia

  • FIRST — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Le mot anglais first (premier) peut faire référence à : The First, comics américain Frist (casques), nom d un fabriquant de casques de moto. First… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • First — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda First Single por Lindsay Lohan del Álbum Speak Lanzado 30 de agosto, 2005 Formato CD Maxi Single Descarga Grabación 2004 …   Wikipedia Español

  • First — (f[ e]rst), adv. Before any other person or thing in time, space, rank, etc.; much used in composition with adjectives and participles. [1913 Webster] Adam was first formed, then Eve. 1 Tim. ii. 13. [1913 Webster] {At first}, {At the first}, at… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • FIRST — First  общеупотребительное английское слово, которое может переводиться как первый, ближайший, самый ранний, лучший, главный, начало, ранее, сначала и т. д. В силу позитивности звучания и значения часто используется в аббревиатурах …   Википедия

  • First — First, n. (Mus.) The upper part of a duet, trio, etc., either vocal or instrumental; so called because it generally expresses the air, and has a pre[ e]minence in the combined effect. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • First — First, so v.w. Firste …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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