erste
Pronunciation
- /ˈeːrstə/, [ˈʔeːɐ̯stə], [ˈʔɛɐ̯stə][1]
Forms
erste (no predicative form, strong nominative masculine singular erster, not comparable)[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle High German ērest, inherited from Old High German ēristo, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *airist (“earliest, first”).[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon ērist, Middle Low German ērst, Middle Dutch eerst, Old Frisian erost and Old English ǣrest, and today Dutch eerst.[3][4] It is the superlative of the comparative that lives on in eher (Old High German ēriro (“earlier”)), built on Proto-Germanic *air (“early”), whose positive is Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂 (air) and Old Norse ár (“early”).[5][3][4] The comparative adverb is also in 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌹𐍃 (airis, “earlier”).[5]
The starting sense seems to have been “at daybreak”: Kluge and Duden compare Ancient Greek ἦρι (êri, “early in the morning”) and Avestan aiiar- (“day”).[5][6] In West Germanic the superlative became the ordinal number of eins.[6][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Old High German ēristo is recorded from the 8th century; the first quotation in the revised Grimm is from the Benedictine Rule of about 790–802, fona eriston citi (“from the first hour”).[7][4] Schützeichel gives the senses “first, highest” and, as a noun, “beginning”, in the Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and Williram.[8]
Semantic evolution
The word first named what comes before everything else in time, and then also what stands highest in rank.[3][9] In the 17th century a new comparative ersterer was formed in the sense “first”; later it was used only for the first-named of two, against letzterer.[3][9]
Phrases replaced by adverbs include zum Ersten and fürs Erste, beside zuerst (Middle High German zērist, Old High German zi ērist), vorerst (18th century, for older fürerst) and erstens (18th century).[9][3] Erstlich dates from the 16th century, and Erstling “first fruits, first child”, now chiefly “first work”, from the beginning of the 16th century.[3]
Timeline
- c. 790–802 – Old High German eriston is used in the Benedictine Rule.[4]
- Early 16th century – Erstling appears.[3]
- 16th century – erstlich “firstly” is recorded.[3]
- 17th century – The comparative ersterer is formed.[3][9]
- 18th century – erstens and vorerst come into use.[3][9]
Meanings
Numeral
- First: coming at the beginning of a series or sequence.[10][1]
- First in rank or quality; the best: die Erste in der Mannschaft “the best in the team”.[10]
Word family
- erstens
- Erstling
- zuerst
- vorerst
- erstlich
Related words
Usage notes
Der erste Beste is “the first one that comes along”, and fürs Erste means “for the time being”.[10][9]
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 257
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
- ^ a b c d e Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 8, 2205
- ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 229
- ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 223
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 91
- ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 242
- ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag