Meaning

8 senses

  1. (uncountable)The person or thing in the first position.

    He was the first to complete the course.

    Erste

    пе́рвыйpérvyj

    пе́ршийpéršyj

  2. (uncountable)The first gear of an engine.

    the first element in a countable series

  3. (countable)Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.

    This is a first. For once he has nothing to say.

    Novum

  4. (countable)First base.

    There was a close play at first.

    the first or highest in an ordering or series

  5. (UK, colloquial, countable)A first-class honours degree.

    an honours degree of the highest class

  6. (colloquial, countable)A first-edition copy of some publication.

  7. (countable, in compounds, uncountable)A fraction whose (integer) denominator ends in the digit 1.

    one forty-first of the estate

  8. (obsolete)Time; time granted; respite.

    the time at which something is supposed to begin

Examples

10469 sentences

  1. I must finish this work first.

    Я повинен спочатку завершити цю роботу. — Oleksandr_Tahayev

    ruЯ должен сначала закончить эту работу. — marafon

    deIch muss zuerst diese Arbeit beenden. — mayabe

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Please fill out this form first.

    Будь ласка, спочатку заповніть цю форму. — deniko

    ruПожалуйста, заполните сначала этот бланк. — Balamax

    deBitte füllen Sie zuerst dieses Formular aus. — Manfredo

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. At first, I didn't like him.

    Спершу він мені не подобався. — deniko

    ruСначала он мне не нравился. — shanghainese

    deZuerst mochte ich ihn nicht. — Manfredo

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Tom got first prize, didn't he?

    Том взяв перший приз, чи не так? — deniko

    ruТом ведь первый приз взял, да? — sharptoothed

    deTom hat den ersten Preis gewonnen, nicht wahr? — Yorwba

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Is this your first trip abroad?

    Це твоя перша поїздка за кордон? — deniko

    ruЭто твоя первая поездка за границу? — NastyaKayokhtina

    deIst dies deine erste Reise ins Ausland? — al_ex_an_der

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
person or thing in the first position:
Русский
By meaning 1
person or thing in the first position:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
person or thing in the first position:
new occurrence:

Origin

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-West G

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-West Germanic *furist, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“first, foremost”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *furai, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before”), from *per- (“before; first”), equivalent to fore + -est.

From Middle English first, furst, fyrst, from Old English fyrst, fierst, first (“period, space of time, time, respite, truce”), from Proto-Germanic *frestaz, *fristiz, *frestą (“date, appointed time”), from Proto-Indo-European *pres-, *per- (“forward, forth, over, beyond”). Cognate with North Frisian ferst, frest (“period, time”), German Frist (“period, deadline, term”), Swedish frist (“deadline, respite, reprieve, time-limit”), Icelandic frestur (“period”). See also frist.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: firsts

Synonyms

16 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • an honours degree of the highest class:first-class honours degree
  • the first element in a countable series:number onenumber 1
  • the first or highest in an ordering or series:number one
  • the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed at first of the bases in the infield (counting counterclockwise from home plate):first base
  • the lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving:first gearlow gearlow
  • the time at which something is supposed to begin:beginningcommencementoutsetget-gostartkickoffstarting timeshowtime

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

Collocations

12 patterns
  • the first time
  • was the first
  • first time
  • the first one
  • first one to
  • first time that
  • the first person
  • first met
  • remember the first
  • for the first
  • first person to
  • the first thing

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
firmB1firmamentfirmlyB1firmwarefirstbornfirsthand

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

first — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto