first Hear it!

first definition

first (fʉrst)

adjective

  1. preceding all others in a series; before any other; 1st
  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; low ()
  5. Music playing or singing the part highest in pitch or the leading part

Etymology: 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

adverb

    1. before any other person or thing; at the beginning
    2. before doing anything else
  1. as the first point; to begin with
  2. for the first time
  3. sooner; preferably

noun

  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. the best quality of merchandise
  7. the winning place in a race or competition
  8. the first () gear of a motor vehicle transmission; low ()
  9. Baseball first base
  10. Music the highest or leading voice or instrument in an ensemble
first Idioms

first thing

as the first thing; before anything else

in the first place

firstly; to begin with

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.