Standard Lemma guide

firstly

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈfɜɹstli/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F ER1 S T L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In the first place; before anything else; first.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: formal, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

before anything else

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • first we must consider the garter snake

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: first, foremost, first of all, first off

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined before 1475, from Middle English fyrst-lyk, equivalent to first + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

109 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: Ne Fillim — in the first place
  • Arabic: أَوَّلًا (ʔawwalan) — in the first place
  • Armenian: նախ (nax) — in the first place
  • Aromanian: ntãnj — in the first place
  • Aromanian: ntãnjiu — in the first place
  • Azerbaijani: əvvəla — in the first place
  • Azerbaijani: əvvəlcə — in the first place
  • Azerbaijani: birinci növbədə — in the first place
  • Azerbaijani: ilk növbədə — in the first place
  • Bashkir: тәүҙә (təwźə) — in the first place
  • Bashkir: башта (başta) — in the first place
  • Bashkir: алда (alda) — in the first place
  • Bashkir: алдан (aldan) — in the first place
  • Bashkir: беренсенән (berensenən) — in the first place
  • Belarusian: па-пе́ршае (pa-pjéršaje) — in the first place
  • Bengali: আউয়াল (auẏal) — in the first place
  • Bulgarian: пъ́рво (pǎ́rvo) — in the first place
  • Catalan: primerament — in the first place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 第一 (dìyī) — in the first place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 首先 (shǒuxiān) — in the first place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 先 (xiān) — in the first place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 最先 (zuìxiān) — in the first place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 一來 /一来 (yīlái) — in the first place
  • Crimean Tatar: birinciden — in the first place
  • Crimean Tatar: evelâ — in the first place
  • Crimean Tatar: eñ evelâ — in the first place
  • Czech: za prvé — in the first place
  • Danish: for det første — in the first place
  • Dutch: ten eerste — in the first place
  • Esperanto: unue — in the first place
  • Estonian: esiteks — in the first place
  • Finnish: ensiksi — in the first place
  • Finnish: ensinnäkin — in the first place
  • Finnish: ensisijaisesti — in the first place
  • French: d'abord — in the first place
  • French: premièrement — in the first place
  • French: en premier lieu — in the first place
  • French: primo — in the first place
  • French: avant tout — in the first place
  • Galician: primeiramente — in the first place
  • Galician: primeiro — in the first place
  • German: erstens — in the first place
  • Hungarian: először — in the first place
  • Hungarian: elsőként — in the first place
  • Hungarian: először is — in the first place
  • Icelandic: í fyrsta lagi — in the first place
  • Ido: unesme — in the first place
  • Ingrian: enstää — in the first place
  • Ingrian: ensti — in the first place
  • Ingrian: ensiks — in the first place
  • Irish: ar an gcéad dul síos — in the first place
  • Italian: dapprima — in the first place
  • Italian: prima — in the first place
  • Italian: in primo luogo — in the first place
  • Japanese: 先ず (mazu) — in the first place
  • Japanese: 第一に (daiichi ni) — in the first place
  • Japanese: 最初に (saisho ni) — in the first place
  • Japanese: 初めに (hajime ni) — in the first place
  • Karakhanid: اِلْكْ (ilk) — in the first place
  • Kazakh: біріншіден (bırınşıden) — in the first place
  • Korean: 첫째로 (cheotjjaero) — in the first place
  • Korean: 먼저 (meonjeo) — in the first place
  • Latin: prīmō — in the first place
  • Macedonian: прво (prvo) — in the first place
  • Malay: pertama — in the first place
  • Malay: semula — in the first place
  • Malayalam: ആദ്യം (ādyaṁ) — in the first place
  • Malayalam: ഒന്നാമത് (onnāmatŭ) — in the first place
  • Māori: mātua — in the first place
  • Pannonian Rusyn: перше (perše) — in the first place
  • Pannonian Rusyn: насампредз (nasampredz) — in the first place
  • Persian: اولا (awvalan) — in the first place
  • Polish: najpierw — in the first place
  • Polish: najsampierw — in the first place
  • Polish: na początku — in the first place
  • Polish: naprzód — in the first place
  • Polish: nasamprzód — in the first place
  • Polish: na wstępie — in the first place
  • Polish: pierw — in the first place
  • Polish: pierwej — in the first place
  • Polish: po pierwsze — in the first place
  • Polish: wpierw — in the first place
  • Portuguese: primeiramente — in the first place
  • Romanian: prim — in the first place
  • Romanian: întâi — in the first place
  • Russian: во-пе́рвых (vo-pérvyx) — in the first place
  • Russian: пре́жде всего́ (préžde vsevó) — in the first place
  • Russian: в пе́рвую о́чередь (v pérvuju óčeredʹ) — in the first place
  • Russian: пе́рвым до́лгом (pérvym dólgom) — in the first place
  • Sanskrit: प्रथमम् (prathamam) — in the first place
  • Scottish Gaelic: an toiseach — in the first place
  • Slovak: po prvé — in the first place
  • Slovene: najprej — in the first place
  • Slovene: prvič — in the first place
  • Spanish: primeramente — in the first place
  • Swedish: för det första — in the first place
  • Tajik: аввалан (avvalan) — in the first place
  • Tamil: முதலில் (mutalil) — in the first place
  • Turkish: ilk — in the first place
  • Turkish: önce — in the first place
  • Ottoman Turkish: اوكجه (önce) — in the first place
  • Ottoman Turkish: الك (ilk) — in the first place
  • Ukrainian: по-пе́рше (po-pérše) — in the first place
  • Uyghur: ئاۋۋال (awwal) — in the first place
  • Uzbek: birinchidan — in the first place
  • Uzbek: avvalo — in the first place
  • Vietnamese: trước hết — in the first place
  • Vietnamese: trước nhất — in the first place
  • Vietnamese: trước tiên — in the first place
Real reading context

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