different between first vs foremost

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??st/
• (General American) enPR: f?rst, IPA^(key): /f?st/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /f?rst/, /f?rst/
• Hyphenation: first
• Rhymes: -??(?)st

Etymology 1

From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz (“foremost, first”), superlative of Proto-Germanic *fur, *fura, *furi (“before”), from Proto-Indo-European *per-, *pero- (“forward, beyond, around”), equivalent to fore +? -est. Cognate with North Frisian foarste (“first”), Dutch voorste (“foremost, first”), German Fürst (“chief, prince”, literally “first (born)”), Swedish först (“first”), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst (“first”), Icelandic fyrstur (“first”).

Alternative forms

• 1st, Ist; I, I. (in names of monarchs and popes)
• firste (archaic)
• fyrst, fyrste (obsolete)

Adjective

first (not comparable)

1. Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.

   Hancock was first to arrive.

2. Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
   • 1784: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., PREFACE

     THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Per?ons of the fir?t di?tinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ?everal new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and di?tingui?h it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

Related terms

• for
• fore

Translations

Adverb

first (not comparable)

1. Before anything else; firstly.
2. For the first time;

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:firstly

Translations

Noun

first (countable and uncountable, plural firsts)

1. (uncountable) The person or thing in the first position.
   • 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations

     Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

2. (uncountable) The first gear of an engine.
3. (countable) Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.

4. (countable, baseball) first base

5. (countable, Britain, colloquial) A first-class honours degree.
6. (countable, colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication.
7. A fraction of an integer ending in one.

Translations

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

• primary
• primus inter pares

Etymology 2

From Middle English first, furst, fyrst, from Old English fyrst, fierst, first (“period, space of time, time, respite, truce”), from Proto-Germanic *frestaz, *fristiz, *frest? (“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.

Noun

first (plural firsts)

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

References

• first at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• FTIRs, SIRTF, frist, frits, rifts

English

Etymology

From Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”), from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz, from the locative stem *fur-, *fr- + the superlative suffix *-umistaz, stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr-. The suffix *-umistaz was a compound suffix, created from the rarer comparative suffix *-umô (as in Old English fruma) + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.

Cognate with Old Frisian formest, Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (frumists). See for, first and Old English fruma for more. Partially cognate to primus, from Proto-Indo-European *pr- + Latin superlative suffix -imus, from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.

A comparative former was back-formed analogically, leaving the m from *-umô in place. Later the Old English suffix complex -(u)m-est was conflated with the word most through folk etymology, so that the word is now interpreted as fore +? -most.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f??.m??st/
• Rhymes: -??st

Adjective

foremost (not comparable)

1. first, either in time or in space
2. Most forward; front
3. of a higher rank or position; paramount
4. (nautical) closest to the bow

Translations

Adverb

foremost (not comparable)

1. in front
2. prominently forward
3. especially; particularly
   • 2001, Chantel Laran Sawyer Lumpkin, The Influences of Assets on the Academic Achievement of African American College Students, p. 155:

     As dependent minors the foremost proximal system was family, followed by school and community.

   • 2013, Robert Woods, Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture: Pop Goes the Gospel, p. XXIX:

     Lewis is the twentieth century's foremost popular writer and the most influential public intellectual for evangelicals.

   • 2019, Louise Taylor, Alex Morgan heads USA past England into Women’s World Cup final (in The Guardian, 2 July 2019)[1]

     England head to Nice for Saturday’s third-place playoff after yet more semi-final disappointment but with heads held high having played their part in a wonderful game featuring some particularly harsh luck. Foremost among it was the marginal offside which saw an Ellen White goal disallowed and, later, a penalty miss by Steph Houghton.

Translations