erst, a. and adv.
(ɜːst)
Forms: 1–3 ǽrest, ǽrost, ǽrst, 2–4 erest, 3–4 arst, (4 ? eroust, 5 erast, eerst), 3–7 earst, (3 earest), 4–6 erste, (6 ierst, 6, 7 yerst), 4– erst.
[OE. ǽrest, superl. of ǽr (see ere); repr. OTeut. *airisto-, whence OHG. êrist (MHG. êrist, mod.G. erst), OS. êrist (Du. eerst).]
A. adj.
† 1. First in time or serial order. Obs.
| a 1000 Guthlac 408 (Gr.) Wæs seo æreste earmra gæsta costung ofercumen. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 75 Ec of heom wrat þer his uers and sancte peter wrat þet ereste. c 1205 Lay. 2646 Þes wes þe æreste [c 1275 ereste] king þe ferde vt to ræuing. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 885 Þes alre schafte schuppent, Schawde ure eareste aldren..Þe wit & te wei of lif. a 1225 Ancr. R. 10 Powel þe erest ancre. |
† 2. absol. in advb. phrases. now (then) at erst: now (then) and not sooner; cf. Ger. erst dann. (App. through misunderstanding of this, Spenser has at erst = ‘as soon as possible, at once’.) on erst (only early ME.; also on alre erst): in the first place, at first.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 264 Þeonne on erest biginneð þe deoflen to weden. a 1225 St. Marher. 14 Þenne þudde ich in ham luueliche þohtes, on earst hare unþonckes. c 1230 Hali Meid. 17 Þat is on alre earst þe stude & te time. c 1300 Havelok 2688 Tho tarst [= at arst] bigan Godrich to go Vpon the Danshe. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. xi. 95 But þan atte arst ben þei verray good. c 1386 ― Sec. Nun's T. 151 And thanne at erst thus to him sayde sche. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, And than at erst fro hense will I wynde. 1475 Bk. Noblesse 6 Now at erst the irness be brennyng hote. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 6 And now at earst the dirke night doth hast. 1596 ― F.Q. (J.), Abandon this forestalled place at erst. |
B. adv.
† 1. Earliest, soonest, first in order of time.
| Beowulf 616 Þa freolic wif ful ᵹesealde ærest east dena eþelwearde. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xix. 53 And eode seo yldre swystor ærost to his bedde. c 1230 Hali Meid. 15 Þ urh ure lafdi meidenhad þat hit bigon earst þe meiden Marie. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A iv. 29 Bote Concience com arst to Court bi A Myle. 1377 Ibid. B. xiv. 216 Arst in þe Maister þan in þe man. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7233 But Ector the honerable erst was on fote. |
† 2. In the first place, before something else is or was done; in preference to doing something else. (Sometimes pleonastically before ere.) Obs.
| c 1260 Ballad in Rel. Ant. I. 101 Arst we sullen scinin him ay rowe. c 1300 K. Alis. 6480 Ac arst mony of his knyghtis gode Loren theo balles in heore hode. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 5 Bote Reson Rede me þer-to Arst wol I dye! 1377 ― P. Pl. B. v. 468, I shal seke treuthe arst ar I se Rome. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1281 Ac arst þow schalt sykery me..þat þou, etc. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 258/4 Why hast not thou erst taken awey the sowle fro my body. 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale (Arb.) 30 He shuld haue erst proued his parte trw and myn false. 1578 Chr. Prayers in Priv. Prayers (1851) 511 Having erst uttered the bowels of thy mercy, thou gavest up the ghost. 1587 M. Grove Pelops & Hipp. (1878) 13 Earst t'obtaine that still, Which they perceiue doth please the flesh. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 276 And ierst with sodaine feare Lepte of the bed. |
† 3. At first, as opposed to afterwards. Obs.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 229 Aceas he him leorninchnihtes erest twelf..siððan twa and sefentiȝe. c 1205 Lay. 27456 ærst [c 1275 earest] heo lette fleon to feondliche swiðe flan..Seoð⁓ðen speren chrakeden. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 389 Luþer he was arst ynou, & wel wors he was þo. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 8497 Taurus hit [= hight] Wawain arst. a 1541 Wyatt Poet. Wks. 4 Which comforts the mind, that erst for fear shook. 1605 Rowlands Hell's Broke Loose 34 Tamberlaine Was earst a Sheepheard ere he play'd the King. |
† 4. Sooner, earlier; before a specified time or event: esp. with negatives; not erst: not before, not till then. Obs.
| c 1330 Florice & Bl. 799 Arst ne schal hit neuer bi do. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 337 Þanne þe money schal be payde and nouȝt arst. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 405 Bi sentence of the iuge..and not erst, neither other wise. 1475 Caxton Jason 26 b, The wedowes bewailled gretly because he was not erst comen. 1588 Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847) Of thy most singular bounty, and never yerst seen care. |
† b. conjunctional phrases, erst than, that = before C. Obs.
| ? a 1400 Arthur 291 Now, erst þan we goo ferþer Every man þat ys here Sey a Pater noster. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1032 Far may be sought Erst that ye can finde, etc. |
5. Before the present time: a. Referring to a remoter past: ‘Once upon a time’, formerly, of old. arch. or poet.
| 14.. Songs & Carols (Warton Club) 22 That ilke blys That arte [? read arste] haȝt ben, and alwey is. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 917 As erst the Phrygian Knight, So ours..did smite His Trojan Horse. 1729 T. Cooke Tales, etc. 185 To Strains which erst the brave Tyrtæus sung. 1789 Coleridge Anthem Chr. Hosp. Let full gratitude now prompt the tear Which erst did sorrow force to flow. 1808 Wordsw. Inscript. Coleorton, The ivied ruins of forlorn Grace Dieu; Erst a religious House. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 48 Count o'er the friends whom erst you knew. |
¶ Misused as prep. = before.
| 1839–48 Bailey Festus x. 109 Erst all time And all incarnate emanations. |
† b. Referring to a recent past: Not long ago, a little while since. Often in Spenser and Milton.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxii. 250 That ferefull company, that I spak of eerst. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 153 But a litle earst ye confessed the thyng, which ye do now deny. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 9 The armes that earst so bright did show. 1606 Warner Alb. Eng. xv. xcv. 381 The vgliest was this Plot, Preuented earst miraculously. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. (1694) 179 Meanwhile the other Champions, yerst In hurry of the fight disperst, Arriv'd. 1671 Milton Samson 1543 This..horrid spectacle, Which erst my eyes beheld, and yet behold. 1791 Cowper Retired Cat 100 Forth skipped the cat, not now replete As erst with airy self-conceit. |
6. In comb. with adjs. and ppl. adjs.
| 1594 J. Dickenson Arisbas (1878) 33 Wherewith Flora had in plentie poudred the freshnesse of her earst-green hue. 1602 Carew Cornwall 100 a, The earst remembered Sir Ric..entertained at one time..the admirals of the English, Spanish, and Netherland fleets. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol (1749) 135 All but the stout And erst unconquer'd Hildebrand. |
Hence ˈerstly adv., in the first place.
| 1600 Chester Pl. Proem (Shaks. Soc.) 3 Their fore be boulde Erstelye to playe the same. |