erst
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɝst/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɜːst/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)st
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English erste, from Old English ǣresta (“first”), from Proto-West Germanic *airist (“earliest, first”), equivalent to ere + -est. Cognate with North Frisian eerst, ærst (“first”), West Frisian earst (“first”), Dutch eerste (“first”), German erste (“first”).
Adjective edit
erst (not comparable)
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English erst, arst, erest, from Old English ǣrest (“first, erst, at first, before all”), from Proto-West Germanic *airist(ō) (“erst”). Cognate with Scots erst (“erst”), Dutch eerst.
Adverb edit
erst (not comparable)
- (obsolete) First of all, before (some other specified thing).
- 1567, Arthur Golding, Ovid's Metamorphoses, book 2, line 691:
- Consider what I erst have been and what thou seest me now:
- (obsolete) Sooner (than); before.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxviij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:
- Thenne he sente the varlet ageyne and bad hym telle Kyng Mark that I wille come as soone as I am hole / for erste I maye doo hym noo good
"Then he sent the varlet again, and bade him: Tell King Mark that I will come as soon as I am whole, for erst I may do him no good. "- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (archaic, poetic) Formerly, once, erstwhile.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 12”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
- When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd
Quotations edit
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:erst.
Derived terms edit
Anagrams edit
German edit
Etymology edit
See the numeral erster.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
erst
- first, at first
- Synonym: zuerst
- only (with progress, accomplishments or the present time)
- Sie ist erst 28 Jahre alt. ― She is only 28 years old.
- Es ist erst halb zehn. ― It is only half past nine.
- not until, not for, not before (with reference to a point or period of time in the future)
- Ich bin erst nächsten Monat in Urlaub.
- I'm not on vacation until next month.
- Mein Bruder kommt erst in drei Wochen an.
- My brother's not arriving for three weeks.
- only, as recently as (with reference to the past)
- Er ist erst gestern gegangen. ― He left only yesterday.
- Er ist erst seit zwei Tagen da. ― He has only been here for two days.
- Short for erstmal.
- Es ist kalt im Süden. Und im Norden erst!
- It is cold in the South. And especially in the North.
- (Switzerland) Synonym of zumal
- 2021 January 21, Timo Posselt, “Bis der Server zusammenbricht”, in wobei (Die Beilage der WOZ), page 17:
- Wer lieber Arthousefilme streamt, findet bei Filmingo, Myfilm und Cinefile lokale Alternativen, die erst noch regelmässig ihre Steuern zahlen.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Usage notes edit
- With reference to time periods and moments, the opposite of erst is schon. Erst emphasizes how long it is until something happens or how recently it has happened, whereas schon how soon in the future or far in the past. Thus:
- erst in drei Wochen ― not for three weeks
- schon in drei Wochen ― in only three weeks
- With reference to progress and the like, erst emphasizes how young or short, while schon emphasizes how old or long. Thus:
- Sie ist erst 28 Jahre alt ― She's only 28
- Sie ist schon 28 Jahre alt ― She's already 28
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “erst” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Old Frisian edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
ērst
- Alternative form of ērest
References edit
- Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN