- first
- first [fʉrst]adj.[ME < OE fyrst, lit., foremost, superl. of fore, before (see FORE), akin to OHG furist, Ger fürst, prince, lit., foremost < IE base * per-, beyond > L prae, before, Gr para, beside, beyond]1. preceding all others in a series; before any other; 1st: used as the ordinal of ONE2. happening or acting before all others; earliest3. ranking before all others; foremost in rank, quality, importance, etc.; principal4. designating the slowest forward gear ratio of a motor vehicle transmission; LOW1 (adj. 21)5. Music playing or singing the part highest in pitch or the leading partadv.1.a) before any other person or thing; at the beginningb) before doing anything else2. as the first point; to begin with3. for the first time4. sooner; preferablyn.1. the one before the second2. any person, thing, class, place, etc. that is first3. the first day of a month4. the beginning; start5. a first happening or thing of its kind6. [pl.] the best quality of merchandise7. the winning place in a race or competition8. the FIRST (adj. 4) gear of a motor vehicle transmission; LOW1 (n. a)☆ 9. Baseball short for FIRST BASE10. Music the highest or leading voice or instrument in an ensemble——————first thingas the first thing; before anything else——————in the first placefirstly; to begin with
English World dictionary. V. Neufeldt. 2014.