erst

E1R1S1T1
US/ɝst/UK/ɜːst/

adjective

First.

Similar
onceformerlyat one timeerstwhile
OriginMiddle English erste ← Old English ǣresta ← Proto-West Germanic *airist →
UncommonScrabble 4
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Meanings

adjectiveerst (not comparable)

alternative arste · alternative yerst

  1. not comparableobsoleteFirst.
adverberst (not comparable)

alternative arste · alternative yerst

  1. not comparableobsoleteFirst of all, before (some other specified thing).

    Consider what I erst have been and what thou seest me now:

    1567, Arthur Golding, Ovid's Metamorphoses, book 2, line 691
  2. not comparableobsoleteSooner (than); before.

    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 "Then he sent the varlet again, and bade him: Tell King Mark that I will come as soon as I am whole, for erst I may do him no good. "

    1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxviij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book X
  3. archaicnot comparablepoeticFormerly, once, erstwhile.

    When lofty trees I see barren of leaves Which erst from heat did canopy the herd

    1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 12”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbat a previous time

Similar
onceformerlyat one timeerstwhile
Also see
at one timeerstwhileformerlyonce

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*airist“earliest, first”
  2. Old Englishǣresta“first”
  3. Middle Englisherste
  4. Englisherst

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”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with erst

firstworstburstcurseddispersedhurstthirstverseddurstwurstKirstathirstaburstblink firstverst
All rhymes →

Anagrams

resttres
Cite this entry
APA

erst. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erst

MLA

“erst.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erst. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “erst,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erst.

Source: erst on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.