erst

• arste
• yerst (dialectal)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɝst/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɜːst/

From Middle English erste, from Old English ǣresta (“first”), from Proto-Germanic *airistaz (“earliest, first”), equivalent to ere +‎ -est. Cognate with North Frisian eerst, ærst (“first”), West Frisian earst (“first”), Dutch eerste (“first”), German erste (“first”).

erst (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) First.

From Middle English erst, arst, erest, from Old English ǣrest (“first, erst, at first, before all”), from Proto-Germanic *airist (“erst”). Cognate with Scots erst (“erst”), Dutch eerst.

erst (not comparable)

1. (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:

2. (obsolete) Sooner (than); before.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter 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 / Thenne Kynge Mark hadde his ansuer / There with came Elyas and badde the Kynge yelde vp the castel

3. (archaic, poetic) Formerly, once, erstwhile.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 12:

     When lofty trees I see barren of leaves

     Which erst from heat did canopy the herd

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:erst.

• erstwhile

• 'rest, -ster, ERTs, REST, Rest., SERT, rest, rest., rets, tres

See the numeral erster.

• IPA^(key): [ʔeːɐ̯st]

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erst

1. first, at first
2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

• 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 long in the past. Thus:

  erst in drei Wochen = "not for three weeks" [and that seems so far away]

  schon in drei Wochen = "in only three weeks" [and I'm glad I don't have to wait any longer]

• With reference to progress and the like, erst emphasizes how small/young the age seems, while schon emphasizes how large/old the age seems. Thus:

  Sie ist erst 28 Jahre alt  = "She's only 28" [and yet she has so many accomplishments/she looks so much older, etc.]

  Sie ist schon 28 Jahre alt = "She's already 28" [but it seems like only yesterday that she was a little girl]

• (1.) zuerst

• erster