First a. (sb.) and adv.

Forms: 1 fyrst, fyrest, first, 2–6 fyrst, 3 Orm. firrst, south. vorst, 4 forst, 3–4 ferst, (3 feirst, ferest, -ist, south. verst), 3–5 firste, (3 fireste, -ist, south. virst), furst(e, 3–7 frist, (4 freste), 4–5 fryst, (6 fruist), 3– first. [OE. fyrst, fyrest, OFris. ferost, -est, -st, OS. *furist, used absol. as furisto wk. masc., prince (MDu. vorste, mod.Du. vorst prince), OHG. furist foremost, first, highest, absol. furisto prince (MHG. vürste, mod.G. fürst sb., prince), ON. fyrstr (Sw. första, Da. förste; the sbs. Sw. furste, Da., fyrste, prince, are adapted from Ger.):—Com. Teut. *furisto-, a superlative formation on the stem *fur-, for- (see FORE adv., FOR prep.). The corresponding comparative occurs in OHG. furiro, ON. fyrre, earlier. From the same stem, with different superlative suffix, is formed OE. forma first, whence the double superlative form fyrmest: see FORMER, FOREMOST.

  The OTeut. fur-, for-, represents OAryan pr-, whence in most of the Aryan langs. words meaning ‘first’ are derived, chiefly with superlative suffixes. Cf. Skr. prathama, OSl. prïvū, Gr. πρῶτος, πρώτιστος, L. prīmus.]

  A.  adj. That is before all others; earliest in time or serial order, foremost in position, rank, or importance. Hence often serving the function of a numeral adjective, the ordinal of ONE, in which use it may be written 1st.

  In Eng., as in most other langs., the number one has no regularly formed ordinal, and in OE. the want was supplied by the use of various superlative adjs. meaning ‘foremost’ or ‘earliest,’ viz. fyrst, forma, fyrmest (also formest, Northumbrian forðmest) and ǽrest. In middle English the other words became obsolete, or lost their ordinal sense, so that first became the sole representative of the ordinal of one. This is now its most prominent use, and colors all the applications of the etymological sense; but the word can still be applied (like L. primus, F. premier, etc.) in contexts where a true ordinal would be inadmissible, as in ‘the first days of the year,’ ‘one of the first men in the country,’ etc.

  I.  As simple adjective.

  1.  In regard to time: Prior to all others in occurrence, existence, etc.; happening, existing, or presenting itself before the others; earliest.

a. 1000.  Cædmon’s Exod., 399 (Gr.). Fyrst ferhðbana.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 675.

1345.  in Heath, Grocers’ Comp. (1869), 41–2. The freste Wardynes that ever were, of owre fraternyte.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 162/1. Fyrste be-getynge, primogenitura.

1483.  Cath. Angl., 132/1. Þe Firste martyr, prothomartir.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, lxxxi. 4.

a. 1626.  Bacon, Max. & Uses Com. Law (1635), 23. This manner of gaining lands was in the first dayes, and is not now of use in England, for that by the conquest, all the Land of this Nation was in the Conquerours hands, and appropriated unto him.

1662.  Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., I. iv. § 7. For what is now become of the antiquities of Ionia and the City Miletus written by Cadmus Milesius, supposed to be the first writer of History?

1698.  Vanbrugh, Prov. Wife, I. i. Why, he is the first Aggressor, not I.

1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 16. Another planted the first vines in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope.

1868.  Lockyer, Elem. Astron., v. (1879), 193. The first clock in England was made about 1288, and was erected in Old Palace Yard.

  b.  With the application defined by a relative clause, for which in mod.Eng. to with infinitive is often substituted.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 797.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1469 (Cott.). He [Enoch] was þe first þat letters fand.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 4330. The furst þat was founden of þes fals goddes.

1568.  Tilney, Disc. Mariage, A vij. I wyll not be the first that shall disobey.

1798.  Coleridge, Anc. Mar., II.

1857.  Buckle, Civiliz., I. xii. 658. He [Voltaire] was the first who popularized in France the philosophy of Newton, where it rapidly superseded that of Descartes.

Mod.  You were the first person to explain the matter. He is always the first to find fault. This part of the system was one of the first to be developed, and one of the first to disappear.

  c.  Said of anything which occurs or presents itself next after a given point of time expressed or implied in the sentence.

1607.  Marston, What you Will, V. The first thing her bounty shall fetch is, my blush-colour satin suit from pawn: gain!

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (1840) II. ii. 42. The first business was to get canoes; and in this they were obliged not to stick so much upon the honest part of it, but to trespass upon their friendly savages.

1732.  Berkeley, Alciphr., III. § 6. Make an experiment on the first Man you meet.

1834.  L. Ritchie, Wand. by Seine (1835), 138. The first thing to be done was to secure lodgings, the château being incapable of holding all.

1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 138. One of his first acts, after he [James II.] became King, was to recall Ormond from Ireland.

1871.  M. Collins, Mrq. & Merch. I. viii. 240. I shall get back to London by the first train.

  d.  With emphatic force, where it is implied that the first event or occurrence is the only one to be regarded or waited for.

1399.  Langl., Rich. Redeles, III. 56. Þey ffolwith þe vois · at þe ffrist note.

1506.  Pylgrym. Sir R. Guylforde (Camden), 16. To euery pylgryme at the firste fote that he setteth on londe there is graunted plenary remyssion.

1607.  Shaks., Cor., I. viii. 5.

1675.  Marvell, Corr., Wks. 1872–5, II. 433 [‘Mock speech’ of Charles II.]. I have made Crew, Bishop of Durham, and, at the first word of my Lady Portsmouth, Prideaux, Bishop of Chichester.

1699.  W. Hacke, Collect. Orig. Voy., II. 39. There were some Men of War lay ready to put out after us upon the first News of our being near.

a. 1822.  Shelley, Unfin. Drama, 153.

  e.  In phr.: At († the) first sight (or view), at (the) first blush. (Also, † at first dash, push.)

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 8029 (Cott.).

1579.  Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 52. Heere Euphues at the first sight was so kindled with desire, that almost he was like to burn to coales.

1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut. ix. 51. True it is that we perceiue it not at the first push.

a. 1593.  Marlowe, Hero & Leander, I. 176. Who ever lov’d, that lov’d not at first sight?

1611.  Middleton, Roaring Girl, IV. i. Sir A. You can play any lesson [music]? Moll. At first sight, sir.

1665.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (1677), 139. At first view I thought they had some resemblance with those four monsters the Prophet Daniel in his nocturnal Vision saw rising out of the Sea.

1670.  Cotton, Espernon, II. V. 202. So brisk an Article as this at first dash, and before the King would proceed to any further Treaty, it is to be suppos’d would startle the Spanish Gravity.

1702.  C. Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana, I. ii. (1853), I. 54. They saw no Indians all the winter long, but such as at the first sight always ran away; yea, they quickly found, that God had so turned the hearts of these barbarians, as more to fear, than to hate his people thus cast among them.

1702.  The English Theophrastus, 575. A fool may so far imitate the mien … of a wise man, as at first blush to put a man at a stand what to make of him.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 426, Phaedo, Introduction. There is more of system in the Phaedo than appears at first sight.

  f.  (The) first thing: advb. phrase = as the first thing that is done.

[1596.  Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., III. iii. 205. Fal. Rob me the Exchequer the first thing thou do’st, and do it with vnwash’d hands too.

1720.  Humorous Lett. in Lond. Jrnl. (1721), 50. My fancy … carried me, the first thing it did … to Rome.]

1836.  Dickens, Sk. Boz, 2. Go to this woman’s the first thing to-morrow morning, will you?

1885.  Anstey, Tinted Venus, 74. I’ll buy a cloak for her the first thing to-morrow morning.

1893.  E. W. Hornung, The Voice of Gunbar, in Pall Mall Mag., II. Nov., 79. He only made me hold the rolled print in my hand the whole time; and I was to take tremendous care of it, and hand it over to him the moment we pulled up in the yard here, so that he might give it to the little one first thing.

  g.  ellipt. for ‘the first of the season.’

1599.  H. Buttes, Dyets drie Dinner, G iij b. Hoppe…. The first buds, or yong braunches shooting from the roote, not yet least, of a tender and slender stalke.

1860.  Gosse, The Romance of Natural History 8. The first cuckoo, the first swallow, sent a thrill through our hearts which is not repeated.

  h.  After the name of a day of the week: Next, following. north. dial.

1781.  D. Ritchie, in Southey’s Life of A. Bell (1844), I. 252. I … must prepare a new sermon for Sabbath first.

1868.  Atkinson, Cleveland Gloss., ‘Sat’rda’ first’ for Saturday next.

1800.  Glasgow Herald, 24 March, 1/1. Tickets for the special service in the Cathedral, on Thursday first.

  2.  Preceding all others in a series, succession, order, set or enumeration.

O. E. Chron., an. 963. On þe fyrste sunnon dæȝ of Aduent.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 7219 (Cott.). Sampson, þi first wijf lerd þe witte.

1380.  Lay Folks Catech. (Lamb. MS.), 171. The furst part [of the Hail Mary] contenys þe wordys of Gabriel.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 11. We seie is hoot in þe firste degree, þat is I-heet of kyndely heete.

1484.  Caxton, Fables of Æsop, ii. Proem. A fable whiche is the fyrst and formost of this second book.

1599.  H. Buttes, Dyets drie Dinner, L v. He maketh Quaile the first dish of the first course.

1670.  Lady M. Bertie, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 22. The second part … is then the first time acted.

1773.  Goldsm., Stoops to Conq., II. The first blow is half the battle.

1827.  Jarman, Powell’s Devises, II. 291. The testator had a first marriage in contemplation.

1834.  L. Ritchie, Wand. by Seine, 124. As we approach the imposing mass of habitations, the first thing that fixes our eye is the noble river covered with boats, and lined on one side by a range of houses which remind us of Paris.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., lxxxv. 108.

1874.  Chadwick, Base Ball Man., 28. When a player is on the first base and one on the third.

Mod.  Take the first turning on the right.

  b.  in dates, with ellipsis of day. Also in sporting language. The First, spec. the first of September (when partridge-shooting begins).

1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., II. iv. 71.

1673.  S’too Him Bayes, 20. Do’st thou take this to be the first of April when (they say) folks send fools of Errands?

1818.  Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. V. v. 525. He [Coote] encamped on the 1st of June within three miles of the place.

  c.  In the first place: an adverbial phrase = first, firstly: see PLACE.

1665.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (1677), 393. I shall therefore in the first place see what either by Prophetic pen or Reason otherwise is upon Record that may point towards that great, nay greatest part of the World.

  d.  U.S. The first = even, or so much as, the first; even one, a single.

1849.  Let., in N. Y. Tribune, 23 May, 2/2. On my knees, which I couldn’t move the first inch.

1857.  W. A. Gilbert, Sp., in Ho. Reps., 27 Feb. (Bartlett). I am not aware of having committed the first act which would bring upon me the displeasure of the house.

  e.  With a cardinal numeral. In this combination three varieties of word-order have been used. (a) The earliest recorded form is the two (three, etc.) first (= Fr. les deux premiers, Ger. die zwei ersten). This still survives, though it is now rarely used where numbers above 3 or 4 are concerned. † (b) In 15–16th c. two (three, etc.) the first occasionally occurs. (c) In 16th c. the growing tendency to regard first as an ordinal led to the introduction of the form the first two (three, etc.), corresponding to ‘the second two (or three, etc.).’ This is now the universal form in the case of high numbers; but for numbers up to 3 or 4 many writers use it only when the number specified is viewed as a collective unity contrasted with the second or some succeeding 2, 3, or 4 in the series.

  (a)  1340.  Ayenb., 11. Þe þri verste.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 1. Of the whiche thre bokes, the two first be but as prefaces.

1650.  R. Stapylton, Strada’s The History of the Low-Countrey Warres, I. 13. The two first dayes the King himself ran and had the Victory, but when he came the third time in all his glory into the Lists, against the advice of the Lords, encountring the Captain of his Guard, before his Bever was down, a splinter of his Launce flying in his face, struck out his right eye.

1779–81.  Johnson, L. P., Pope, Wks. IV. 136. Each of the six first lines of the Iliad might lose two syllables with very little diminution of the meaning.

1781.  Gibbon, Decl. & F., III. 197. During the five first ages of the city, the name of the Anicians was unknown.

  (b)  1447.  Shillingford, Lett. (Camden), 28. As ye have supposed and claymed and allegged by two the furst divers articulis.

1531.  Elyot, The Boke Named the Gouernour, I. xi. Two the fyrste bokes of the warke of Aristotell, called Ethicæ, wherin is contained the definitions and propre significations of euery vertue. Ibid. (1540–1), Image Gov., 79. In eight the first yeeres of his empire.

  (c)  1593.  Fale, Dialling, 35. Omitting likewise y^e first three, &c.

1661.  Bramhall, Just Vind., i. 2. When it shall appear that we never had any such forrein Patriarch for the first six hundred years and upwards.

1704.  Hearne, Duct. Hist. (1714), I. 134. He [Quintus Curtius] wrote the Life of Alexander in X. Books, whereof the first two are lost.

1860.  Ellicott, Life Our Lord, viii. (1865), 372–3. The first two Evangelists devote no more than twenty verses each to the history of this period.

  3.  Foremost or most advanced in position (said of things either at rest or in motion). In OE. as an independent sense, = ‘front’; subsequently as a special use of sense 2, first opposed to second, third, etc.

a. 1000.  Laws Ethelbert, § 51. Æt ðam feower toþum fyrestum.

1647.  R. Stapylton, Juvenal, 218. The first-file of Orators, a Cicero.

1704.  Marlborough, in Lond. Gaz., No. 4045/2. With most of the horse, and the Foot of the First Line, I passed the Lech.

1801.  James, Milit. Dict., s.v. Line. In order that the first line, on being forced to fall back, may find sufficient ground to rally upon, and not endanger the disposition of the second line, by precipitately crowding on it.

Mod.  He was sitting in the first row of seats. The first horse in the race.

  b.  In adverbial phrases (where foremost may be substituted), head first, feet first, etc., i.e., with the head, feet, etc., foremost.

1877.  Spurgeon, Serm., XXIII. 46. Modern Christians remind me of our boyish days, when we went to bathe in the sea, and used to dip our toes in the waves, instead of taking a plunge head first.

  4.  Foremost, preceding all others, in dignity, rank, importance, or excellence.

1382.  Wyclif, Mark ix. 34. If any man wole be the firste among ȝon.

1548.  Patten, Exped. Scot., in Arb., Garner, III. 118. It was counted for the first part of medicine to have it [i.e., the finger] cut quite away.

1670.  G. H., Hist. Cardinals, I. II. 37. The Apostles were all first, and all last, without any difference of priority.

1720.  Ozell, trans. Vertot’s Rom. Rep., II. xiv. 346. He was very sensible, that Courage, a General’s first Quality, was wanting in him.

1770.  Langhorne, Plutarch (1879), II. 639/1. Eumenes, with the disreputation of having been only a secretary, raised himself to the first military employments.

1798.  Anti-Jacobin, xxxi. 182. The Song of Rogero, with which the First Act concludes, is admitted on all hands to be in the very first taste.

1821.  W. Taylor, in Monthly Rev., XCV. 538. The viceroy was driven to the expedient of a tax on fruit and vegetables, articles of the first necessity at Naples.

1837.  Ht. Martineau, Soc. Amer., III. 30. I was told a great deal about ‘the first people in Boston’: which is perhaps as aristocratic, vain, and vulgar a city, as described by its own ‘first people,’ as any in the world.

1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 370. There were coffee-houses where the first medical men might be consulted.

  b.  In official titles, etc., indicating that the person designated has precedence over colleagues, as first minister (more commonly ‘prime minister’); First Lord of the Admiralty, of the Treasury; first lieutenant, etc.

1753.  Hanway, Trav. (1762), II. II. i. 70. The first minister, for this is the term that all parties adopt, I presume is a kind of representative on behalf of the regal prerogative.

1782.  Ann. Reg., 255. Royal Oak—Mr. Gwatkin, first lieutenant, killed.

1843.  Carlyle, Past & Pr., II. xvii. 174. Of whom as First Lord of the Treasury, as King, Chief Editor, High Priest, we could be so glad and proud.

1858.  Simmonds, Dict. Trade, First-mate, the chief officer of a merchant vessel; the next in rank to the captain.

1866.  H. Coppee, Grant & his Campaigns, 25. His first-lieutenancy dated from Sep. 16, 1847.

1884.  Manch. Exam., 19 Feb., 5/2. The plaintiff … was engaged as first tenor at the Comedy Theatre.

  II.  absol. (quasi-sb.)

  5.  In certain absolute uses.

  a.  The first: the thing or person first mentioned. (Where only two are mentioned, the former now commonly preferred.)

1579.  Lyly, Euphues (1607), B iv. I am neither so suspitious to mistrust your good wil, nor so sottish to mislike your good counsaile, as I am therefore to thanke you for the first, so it stands me vpon to thinke better of the latter.

1774.  Pennant, Tour in Scotl., in 1772, 238. They yield bear and potatoes, much of the first is used in distillation, to the very starving of the islanders.

  b.  spec. in Her. The first = that tincture which is first mentioned in a blazon.

1562.  Legh, Armorie (1597), 28 b. I sayde, voyded of the first, because Argent was the first that was named.

1705.  Hearne, Collect., 8 Dec. Sable, A Cross argent, charg’d with another of the first.

1828–40.  Berry, Encycl. Her., II. Filshed quarterly or. and az.; on the second and third quarters, an eagle, displayed, of the first.

  c.  The first = the first part, the beginning (obs. or dial. in ordinary phrases). Esp. in phrases The first of the ebb, flood, or tide.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, II. xxvii. (1590), 220 b. But now perceiuing the flood of their furie began to ebbe, he thought it policie to take the first of the tide.

1670.  Narborough, in Acc. Sev. Late Voy., I. (1711), 44. At the first of the Flood we caught five hundred Fishes, as big as large Mullets.

1761.  Brit. Mag., II. 446. The six prames that were in the Passe de Filles, attended by some row-gallies, and a great number of launches, crowded with men, dropt down upon the first of the ebb.

1784.  Unfort. Sensibility, II. 67. It was boiling from the first of the morning, till they wanted their dinners.

1798.  Invasion, II. 14. I had … from the first of his entrance, kept retreating to the other side of the room.

1840.  Marryat, Poor Jack, xxii. If the wind will only freshen a little (and it looks very like it), we shall be able to stem the first of the flood, at all events.

  d.  Printing. (See quots.)

1683.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., II. 319. The one they distinguish by the name of First, the other his Second, these call one another Companions: The First is he that has wrought longest at that Press.

1888.  Jacobi, Printer’s Vocab., First.—The senior or leading partner of the two men who work at a hand-press.

  e.  First and last: all, ‘one and all.’

1589.  R. Harvey, Pl. Perc., 2. First and last, helpe, quench all; or else these high flying sparks will light on the heads of vs all, and kindle in our bedstraw, if other folkes lodging be no better then mine.

  6.  In adverbial phrases with a preposition:

  a.  From the first: from the beginning, at the outset, to start with. From first to last: from beginning to end, throughout.

1611.  Bible, Luke i. 3. It seemed good to me also, hauing had perfect vnderstanding of things from the very first, to write vnto thee in order.

1737.  H. Bracken, Farriery Impr. (1757), II. 18. What can we expect more from such ignorant and illiterate Men, than Blunder and Confusion, seeing their Practice, from the first, is ill grounded?

1849.  Grote, Greece, II. lxxii. (1862), VI. 347. The Knights or Horsemen, the body of richest proprietors at Athens, were the mainstay of the Thirty from first to last.

1885.  Manch. Even. News, 16 July, 3/1. The disaffected section … made a dead set against him from the first.

1893.  Strand Mag., VI. 473/1. Whilst the Home Rule Bill was to the fore, Mr. Gladstone was, with an interval for dinner, in his place from first to last.

  b.  At first (also, at the first, now rare): † (a) first, for the first time; † (b) in the first place; † (c) at once, immediately; (d) at the beginning, at the first stage.

  (a)  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 12603 (Gött.).

1682.  Creech, trans. Lucretius, II. 576.

  (b)  1340.  Ayenb., 46. Of þise ȝenne uondeþ þe dyeuel in vif maneres…. Auerst ine fole ziȝþe efterward ine fole wordes [etc.].

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 359. We graunten at þe firste, þat if ony man wole shewe us þat we speken aȝens Goddis lawe.

  (c)  1361.  Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 159. And hoped aftur hunger þo, þat herde him atte furste.

a. 1626.  Bp. Andrewes, 7 Serm., iv. (1627), 65. He bids them put the matter in aduenture, and then but whistle for an Angell, and they will come at first.

1643.  Prynne, Sov. Power Parl., III. 132. How little coherence there is in this Argument, the silliest childe may at first discern.

  (d)  1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., IV. (1586), 185. Their broode lieth very small at the first.

1599.  H. Buttes, Dyets drie Dinner, B iv. This fruite was at first white, until it was dyed red with the blood of Pyramus and Thisbe.

1611.  Bible, John, xii. 16. These things vnderstood not his disciples at the first.

1671.  Milton, Samson, 883.

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 455, 12 Aug., ¶ 3. I am no more delighted with it than I was at the very first.

1776.  Trial of Nundocomar, 23/1. He was at first very ill, then got better; he is now worse.

1845.  M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 25. Chilperic’s resources were exhausted; and the assurance he had at first displayed was now succeeded by an air of embarrassment and confusion.

1874.  Boutell, Arms & Arm., xi. 216. Thanks to their communications with China, the Arabs were not long before they learned the art of making gunpowder; and, as it would seem, at the first they made petards with it—that is, they made objects such as ‘crackers,’ which would explode in a case.

  † c.  With the first: among the first (persons or things); hence, chiefly, especially (cf. L. cum primis).

1611.  Abp. Ussher, Lett. (1686), 15. We look for answer very speedily, of which we will not fail to certifie you with the first.

1621.  T. Bedford, Sinne unto Death 34. This is apprimè necessarium, necessary with the first.

1660.  F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 270. The servant of the Chamber coming in with the first, had a curiosity to see what was in the sack, where he found a Wolfs skin, so properly accommodated for the purpose, that he had a strong fancy to disguise himselfe in it.

  7.  Elliptical uses passing into quasi-sb. (admitting of plural).

  a.  Anything that is first (nonce-uses).

1587.  Golding, De Mornay, vi. 71. There are two Firsts: the one is Gods word, & the other is God who is afore the Word.

1892.  Daily News, 1 Dec., 2/3. The 1st June and December are the two quietest ‘firsts’ in the year.

  b.  Comm. First of exchange: the first of a set of bills of exchange of even tenor and date.

  [The ellipsis of bill is common to all the European langs.; but the phrase is often written in full, both in Eng. and in the other langs.]

1809.  R. Langford, Introd. Trade, 27. Three months after date, pay this my first of Exchange (second and third not paid) to the order of Mr. R. Rich.

1866.  Crump, Banking, v. 137. In case of delay of the arrival of a first of exchange, a copy might be accepted for the honour of the original indorsers, as they are still liable to the holder.

  c.  A place in the first class in an examination-list; the first place in an athletic contest. Also, a man who has taken a place in the first class.

1850.  Clough, Dipsychus, ix. 110.

1861.  Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., iv. (1889), 32. He’ll be a safe first, though I don’t believe he reads more than you or I.

1885.  M. Pattison, Mem., 26. The men who got firsts would have done so equally at any college, and under any disadvantages of college instruction.

1885.  Cyclist, 19 Aug., 1089/1. He … won four firsts and a second last week.

  d.  Mus. (See quot. 1823).

a. 1774.  Goldsm., Exper. Philos. (1776), II. 159. We see how injudiciously the performers on glasses manage, who play firsts, seconds, and sometimes a base altogether upon an instrument, whose only excellence depends, not on its strength, but its simplicity of tone.

1823.  Crabb, Technol. Dict., First (Mus.) the upper part of a duett, trio, &c.

  e.  Base-ball: = first base.

  f.  pl. Used to denote the best quality of certain articles of commerce, e.g., butter.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 535. The finest marls, called firsts, are selected for the arches of doorways, &c. and are rubbed to their proper form and dimensions.

1832.  G. R. Porter, Porcelain & Gl. (Lardner), 186. Crown glass is sold, according to its quality, under four different denominations—firsts, seconds, thirds, and fourths.

1887.  Times, 27 Aug. Butter:—Firsts, 119s.; seconds, 113s.

  B.  adv. [OE. fyrst, the accus. neut. of the adj. Cf. ON. fyrst, OHG. furist.]

  1.  Before any other or anything else, in time, serial order, rank, etc.; before anything else is done or takes place. Also in strengthened phr. first of all, first and foremost.

O. E. Chron., an. 963. Se biscop com þa fyrst to Eliȝ.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 6876.

1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 383.

a. 1300.  Cursor Mundi, 22877 (Trin.).

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, I. 537.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XIX. 116. Þat she furste & formest · ferme shulde bilieue.

c. 1450.  Life of St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 732. Þai straue wha first to lande myght wynne.

1553.  T. Wilson, Rhet. (1580), 5. [He] must fasten his mynde firste of all, upon these five especiall pointes.

1635.  R. N., trans. Camden’s Hist. Eliz., II. xii. 110. She wished them, first and formost to get the Queenes assent, lest the matter might turne to her hurt and the Dukes, whereof she had had experience before in her marriage with the Lord Darly contracted without her assent.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 377.

1718.  Prior, Alma, III. 396.

1776.  Trial of Nundocomar, 68/1. Having received that money, I will pay you first, and after that will pay others.

1814.  Wordsw., Excursion, I., Poems (1888), 422/1.

1841.  Keble, Serm., xi. (1848), 275. The force of the word first seems to be, that the two who first saw our Lord, having separated each to look for a brother or near friend to whom he might relate these wonders, St. Andrew, by special providence, lighted first upon St. Peter.

1874.  Stubbs, The Constitutional History of England (1875), I. xii. 492. The consent of the historians of the time makes him [Henry II.], first and foremost, a legislator and administrator.

1884.  W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 88.

  b.  proverb. First come, first served.

1545.  Brinkelow, Compl., xvii. E iij. First come first serued, so one or ij shal be all payed, & y^e rest shal haue nothing.

1632.  Massinger, Maid of Hon., I. ii.

1860.  Macm. Mag., II. June, 113/1. The sailors who had crowded around the door of the office in expectation of the order, rushed away to the boat. First come, first in; not a moment’s hesitation, not a thought of farther clothing!

1887.  Times (weekly ed.), 24 June, 7/4. It was … a case of first come, first served.

  c.  In a statement, discourse, or argument, where points or topics are enumerated: In the first place, as the first thing to be mentioned or considered, firstly.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 441. Þai say furst, þat speciale prayere aplied by hor prelatis is better þen generale.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Melib., ¶ 275. Ffirst and forward ye han erred in thassemblynge of youre conseillours.

1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. VII. 15.

1583.  Babington, Commandm., v. (1637), 41. First and formest, if Parents will breede this in their children, let them in any wise carefully looke to their life and behauiour before them.

1644.  H. Parker, Jus Pop., 39. To this I make answer thus: First, Slaves in all Countreys and in all Ages have not been treated alike…. Secondly, Where slaves are under the protection of other Laws than their lords wills, and where they are truely parts and members of the State…. Thirdly, A confused enlarging of slaves at the same instant of time, and dismission from all domesticall rule, might be prejudiciall in the infancy of Religion.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 89, 12 June, ¶ 4. First of all I would have them seriously think on the Shortness of their Time.

1847.  [see FIRSTLY 1].

  † d.  At first, originally. Obs.

c. 1100.  trans. Bull of Pope Agatho, in Cod. Dipl., V. 30. Ic Saxulf, ðe wæs first abbot and nu eam biscop.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 5373 (Gött.).

1598.  Grenewey, Tacitus’ Ann., II. xviii. (1622), 58. Plancina growing more insolent then first, changed the mourning weede she ware for the death of her sister into a joyfull attire.

1645.  Waller, The battell of the Summer Islands, I. 48.

  e.  First and last: taking one thing with another, at one time and another, reckoned altogether, in all. First or last: at one time or another, sooner or later.

1678.  Lady Chaworth, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., Add. v. 45. Lord Shrewsbery is like to marry Mr. Chiffens his daughter who will be first and last made worth 40,000l. to him.

1699.  Dampier, Voy., II. II. 2. The Bay of Campeachy, where I lived first and last about 3 Years.

1700.  Dryden, Palamon & Arcite, II. 378.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (1840), I. iv. 65. I brought away all the sails first and last, only that I was fain to cut them in pieces, and bring as much at a time as I could; for they were no more useful to be sails, but as mere canvas only.

  2.  Before some other specified or implied thing, time, event, etc.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1625 (Gött.).

1567.  Satir. Poems Reform., vii. 189.

1597.  J. Payne, Royal Exch., 38. Although it be long fyrst … yet … they come.

1611.  Bible, 2 Sam. xiii. 13. Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Sauls daughter.

1618.  Bolton, Florus (1636), 251. They wasted the puissance of Sertorius in battell, though it was long first, and never but with doubtfull fight, nor at last by faire Warre.

1662.  J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 7. One of the Suedish Ambassadors ask’d the Interpreter, when those of Holstein would be receiv’d; he told him he could not tell, but, as he thought, it would be three weeks first.

1748.  Richardson, Clarissa (1811), VIII. 15. Mr. Pocock undertakes to deliver this; but fears it will be Saturday night first, if not Sunday morning.

1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., xxviii. I wounded one who first assaulted me, and, I fear, desperately; but the rest made me their prisoner.

1855.  Dickens, Dorrit, v. Would always plead that she had this bit of work to begin first, or that bit of work to finish first; and would, of a certainty, scheme and plan—not very cunningly, it would seem, for she deceived no one—to dine alone.

1884.  A. R. Pennington, Wiclif, ix. 297. Huss also, like Wiclif, opposed Indulgences, and asserted, like ‘the master of deep thoughts’—as he often calls him—that it is impossible for the priest to remit the sins of any unless they are first remitted by Christ.

  b.  In preference to something else; rather, sooner (than do something specified or implied, or allow it to be done).

1580.  A. Melville, in Life (1819), I. ii. 87. They shall have all the blood of my body first.

a. 1635.  Fletcher, Hum. Lieutenant, II. iv.

1797.  Frere & Canning, in Anti-Jacobin, ii. 11. I give thee sixpence? I will see thee d—d first!

1819.  Shelley, Cenci, V. iii. 99.

1869.  Browning, Ring & Bk., IV. x. 311.

  3.  For the first time, then and not earlier (with reference to a specified time, place, etc.).

c. 1300.  St. Brandan, 246. After than that seint Brendan furst this yle i-seȝ.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 648. Þus was ferst here sad sorwe · sesed þat time.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (1839), xi. 126. From þenne, Pylgrymes mowen fyrste se vn to Jerusalem.

a. 1461.  Political Poems (Rolls), II. 249. Whan seyntes felle fryst from hevene.

c. 1600.  Shaks., Sonnet civ.

1732.  Berkeley, Alciphr., I. § 1. I knew him first at the Temple, which, upon an Estate’s falling to him, he quitted, to travel through the polite parts of Europe.

1776.  Trial of Nundocomar, 25/1. When was it that you first heard mention of the bond?

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., xl.

  C.  Comb.

  1.  Chiefly of adv. with ppl. adjs., as first-begot, -begotten (whence first-begottenship), -built, -conceived, -created, -done, -endeavouring, -famed, -formed, -found, -framed, -gendered, -gotten, -grown, -intended, -invented, † -kinned (= FIRST-BORN), -made, -mentioned, -moving, -named, etc. Also with ordinary adj., as first-ripe. Also with vbl. nouns, as first-beginner, -beginning, -comer, -mover, -running. The combs. first-movable, -moved, -mover, -moving have all been used as equivalents for the primum mobile of the old astronomy.

1587.  Golding, De Mornay, vi. 71. Hee calleth him the *Firstbeginner.

1860.  Munro, Lucretius (1864), I. 55. I will essay to discourse to you of the most high system of heaven and the gods and will open up the *first-beginnings of things and increase and nourishment, and into which nature likewise dissolves them back after their destruction.

1671.  Milton, P. R., I. 89.

1382.  Wyclif, Zech. xii. 10. In deth of the *first bygoten.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 162/1. Fyrste begoton, primogenitus.

1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut. cxcv. 1212. Hee was not of the common sort, but had as it were a *first-begottenship.

1887.  Bowen, Virg. Æneid, III. 17.

1868.  Lowell, Shaks., Pr. Wks. 1890, III. 45. Shakespeare, it is true, had, as I have said, as respects English, the privilege which only *first-comers enjoy.

1880.  Libr. Univ. Knowl., X. 368. The foundling named by the first-comer has, from every legal point of view, as good a right to that name if commonly applied to him during his youth as if he had been christened by the highest ecclesiastical authority.

1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., III. ii. 44.

1552.  Huloet, *First created, protoplastes.

1671.  Milton, Samson, 83.

1552.  Huloet, *First done or spedde, præuersus.

1627.  Milton, Vacat. Exerc., 1.

1859.  Tennyson, Guinevere, 321. The two *first-famed for courtesy.

1497.  Bp. Alcock, Mons Perfect., B iij. This subtyll serpent the deuyll … makynge dyscorde betwene almyghty god & our *fyrst fourmyd faders, and also betwene Adam & Eue.

1874.  Darwin, in Life & Lett. (1887), III. 194. I believe the cause to lie in the frequency with which I have found first-formed theories [to be] erroneous.

1594.  Blundevil, Exerc., II. (ed. 7), 109. So shall you haue the *first found number.

1633.  Henry Montagu, Earl of Manchester, Manchester al Mondo (1636), 12. Our *first framed father Adam falling, in him we all fell.

1388.  Wyclif, Ps. civ. [cv.] 36. He killide ech the *firste gendrid thing in the lond of hem. Ibid. (1382). He smot alle the *firste goten in the lond of hem.

1785.  J. Phillips, Treat. Inland Navig., 47. 900l. less than the *first-intended expence.

1827.  G. Higgins, Celtic Druids, 35. I cannot help suspecting that these Ogham characters were the *first-invented letters.

a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter, civ. [cv.] 36. He smate al *first-kinned in land of þa.

1630.  Drayton, Noah’s Flood, 203.

1877.  J. D. Chambers, Divine Worship, 390. The *first-mentioned formularies are the more ancient.

1594.  Blundevil, Exerc., III. I. iii. (ed. 7), 281. The tenth [sphere] is called the *first mouable.

1667.  Milton, P. L., III. 482.

1771.  Smollett, Humph. Cl. (1815), 118. The opposition cursed him as the indefatigable drudge of a first mover, who was justly styled and stigmatized as the father of corruption.

1796.  Hutton, Math. Dict., I. 476/1. First Mover, in the old Astronomy, is the Primum Mobile, or that which gives motion to the other parts of the universe.

c. 1625.  Milton, On Death fair Inf., 39.

1838.  Dickens, O. Twist, xviii. One afternoon, the Dodger and Master Bates being engaged out that evening, the *first-named young gentleman took it into his head to evince some anxiety regarding the decoration of his person.

1599.  H. Buttes, Dyets drie Dinner, Cij. In Latine Præcocia, or Præmatura. Id est. Soone ripe, or *first ripe.

1611.  Bible, Num. xiii. 20. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

1764.  Foote, Patron, II. Wks. 1799, I. 341. When the power of sinning is over, and the sprightly *first-runnings of life are rack’d off, you offer the vapid dregs to your deity.

  2.  In syntactical combs. of a permanent nature or with a special meaning: for many of these, as first cause, cousin, intention, magnitude, person, principle, water, see the respective sbs. Many of them are used attrib. and as adjs., and are then regularly written with the hyphen: see esp. first chop (CHOP sb.⁵ 4), FIRST-CLASS, FIRST-RATE. Also, first aid (to the wounded), assistance given on the spot in the case of street-accidents and the like, before proper medical treatment is procured; first birth, a first-born child; also fig.; hence † first-birth-right; first coat, the first layer of plaster or paint; hence first-coated a.; first cost, prime cost; also attrib.; first-foot (north.), the person who first enters a house after the beginning of the new year; hence first-footing; first form, (a) the lowest form in a school; (b) in Printing (see quots.); first futtocks (Naut.; see quot.); first man (Mining; see quot.); first motion (Mech.; see quot.); first night, the night on which a play, or a particular representation of a play, is first produced on the stage; also attrib.; hence first-nighter (one who assists at a ‘first night’), first-nighting; † first penny (see PENNY); first sight, (a) see sense 1 above; (b) that which is seen for the first time (nonce-use); also attrib.; whence first-sighted ppl. a. (nonce-wd.); first story = FIRST FLOOR. Also FIRST DAY, etc.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., IX. xxxi. (1495), 366. The vertue of the angell that slewe the *fyrste byrthes were wythstonde therby.

1827.  Hare, Guesses, Ser. I. (1847), 55. What a fresh morning air breathes through those twin firstbirths of Poetry.

1650.  J. Trapp, A Clavis to the Bible, I. 299. Then came forth Perez … who took the *first-birth-right and kingdom by force.

1823.  P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 390. *First Coat, of two-coat work, in plastering, is denominated laying when on lath, and rendering when on brick.

1870.  Eng. Mech., 11 Feb., 385/1. The laths are ‘primed’ or *first-coated.

1772.  Franklin, Lett., Wks. 1887, IV. 547. It is supposed that at least a million of Americans drink tea twice a day, which, at the *first cost here, can scarce be reckoned at less than half a guinea a head per annum.

1778.  T. Jefferson, Lett., Wks. 1893, II. 156. The master had once sold the whole cargo, to the governor and council, for 5s 3p the livre, first cost.

1840.  L’pool. Jrnl., 4 July, 1/4. Quantity of soiled account books … at first cost prices.

1805.  Nicol, Poems, I. 33 (Jam.).

1883.  J. Parker, Tyne Ch., 4. How glad … the dear soul was when she had a good ‘first-foot’ on New Year’s morning.

1864.  A. M‘Kay, The History of Kilmarnock (ed. 4), 128. Another custom that prevailed here to a great extent, during the last century, but which is now almost abolished, was that of *first footing on the morning of New-year’s day.

1883.  Black, A Gossip about the West Highlanders, in Harper’s Mag., LXVIII. Dec., 63, note. At midnight ‘first-footing’ begins, and it is considered very lucky if your first visitor should be a dark-haired man.

1683.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., II. 376. *First Form, the Form the White Paper is Printed on, which generally by Rule ought to have the First Page of the Sheet in it.

1888.  Jacobi, Printer’s Vocab., First Forme.—The inner or outer of a forme—whichever is printed off first.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *First Futtocks, timbers in the frame of a ship which come down between the floor-timbers almost to the keel on each side.

1883.  Gresley, Gloss. Coal Mining, *First man, the head butty or coal getter in a stall, who … is responsible for the safety of the men working under him and for the proper working of the coal.

1888.  Lockwood, Dict. Mech. Engin., *First-motion, a term of general application, as first motion shafts, first motion belts, first motion wheel, &c., meaning the one which first receives, and then communicates, power to its successors.

1894.  Westm. Gaz., 3 April, 2/3. A *‘first-night’ notice.

1886.  Boisgobey’s Steel Necklace, v. 79. All the *first-nighters had turned out in force: critics, editors, and fashionable men about town, without counting a sprinkling of prominent tradespeople.

1887.  Daily News, 3 May, 6/1. The social philosophy of *first nighting.

1674.  Marvell, Corr., Wks. 1872–5, II. 424. E of Pembroke marryed to Madame Qerronal’s [sic] sister. The King gives 1000 *first peny.

1773.  Goldsm., Stoops to Conq., III. Then your *first sight deceived you; for I think him one of the most brazen first sights that ever astonished my senses.

1859.  Farrar, J. Home, 27. Without any first-sight vows of eternal friendship.

1748.  Richardson, Clarissa (1811), I. 305. To compliment our own sagacity, in our *first-sighted impressions.

1662.  J. Davies, trans. Mandelslo’s Trav., 137. The River which often overflowes drowns them sometimes to the *first story.

1834.  L. Ritchie, Wand. by Seine (1835), 181. [The prisons] were sometimes placed in the first story of the donjon.

1860.  Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms, s.v. Story. In the United States the floor next the ground is the first story.

[Cf. FIRST-FLOOR 2.]