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 ONE

2. happening or acting before all others; earliest

3. ranking before all others; foremost in rank, quality, importance, etc.; principal

4. 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 part

adv.

1.

a) before any other person or thing; at the beginning

b) before doing anything else

2. as the first point; to begin with

3. for the first time

4. sooner; preferably

n.

1. the one before the second

2. any person, thing, class, place, etc. that is first

3. the first day of a month

4. the beginning; start

5. a first happening or thing of its kind

6. [pl.] the best quality of merchandise

7. the winning place in a race or competition

8. the FIRST (adj. 4) gear of a motor vehicle transmission; LOW¹ (n. a)

☆ 9. Baseball short for FIRST BASE

10. Music the highest or leading voice or instrument in an ensemble

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first thing

as the first thing; before anything else

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in the first place

firstly; to begin with