From Middle English first, furst, ferst, fyrst, from Old English fyrest, from Proto-Germanic *furistaz ("foremost, first"), superlative of Proto-Germanic *fur, *fura, *furi, from Proto-Indo-European *per-, *pero-, equivalent to fore + -est. Cognate with North Frisian foarste ("first"), Dutch voorste ("foremost, first"), German Fürst ("chief, prince"), Swedish först ("first"), Norwegian Nynorsk fyrst ("first"), Icelandic fyrstur ("first").
From Middle English first, furst, fyrst, from Old English fyrst, fierst, first, from Proto-Germanic *frestaz, *fristiz, *frestą, from Proto-Indo-European *pres-, *per-. Cognate with North Frisian ferst, frest, German Frist ("period, deadline, term"), Swedish frist ("deadline, respite, reprieve, time-limit"), Icelandic frestur ("period"). See also frist.
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