erst

The story

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*airist“earliest, first”
2. Old English · inherited fromǣresta“first”
3. Middle English · inherited fromerste
4. English todayerst

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