first

See also: First

first - English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /fɜːst/
  • (General American) enPR: fŭrst, IPA: /fɝst/
  • (Scotland) IPA: /fɪrst/, /fʌrst/
  • Hyphenation: first

Alternative forms

Adjective

first (not comparable)

  1. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.
    • Hancock was first to arrive.
    • The first day of September 2013 was a Sunday.
    • I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race.
  2. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
    • Demosthenes was the first orator of Greece.
    • the first violinist
  3. Of or belonging to a first family.

Translations

Adverb

first (not comparable)

  1. Before anything else; firstly.
    • Clean the sink first, before you even think of starting to cook.
    • I plunged nose first into the water.
  2. For the first time.
    • I first witnessed a death when I was nine years old.
  3. (Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, nonstandard) Now.

Synonyms

  • See also firstly

Translations

Noun

first (countable and uncountable, plural firsts)

  1. (uncountable) The person or thing in the first position.
    • He was the first to complete the course.
  2. (uncountable) The first gear of an engine.
  3. (countable) Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.
    • This is a first. For once he has nothing to say.
  4. (countable, baseball) first base
    • There was a close play at first.
  5. (countable, Britain, colloquial) A first-class honours degree.
  6. (countable, colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication.
  7. (in combination) A fraction whose (integer) denominator ends in the digit 1.
    • one forty-first of the estate

Translations

Derived terms

Terms derived from the adjective, adverb, or noun first

Noun

first (plural firsts)

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

Anagrams

first - Middle English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /first/, /furst/, /fɛrst/

Adjective

first

  1. first

Descendants

Meaning and Definition of first
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