Meanings
prepositional phrase
- idiomaticsequenceTo begin with; earlier; firstly; originally; at the start.
The question is not whether I still enjoy the job, when I never enjoyed it in the first place.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbbefore now
Similar
adverbof primary import
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 首先, 本來 /本来
- 首先 (shǒuxiān)to begin with
- 本來 /本来 (běnlái)to begin with
- 原本 (yuánběn)to begin with
- 起初 (qǐchū)to begin with
- 當初 /当初 (dāngchū)to begin with
Dutch allereerst, überhaupt
- allereerstto begin with
- überhauptto begin with
Finnish alkujaan, alun perin
- alkujaanto begin with
- alun perinto begin with
- aluksito begin with
French en premier lieu, pour commencer
- en premier lieuto begin with
- pour commencerto begin with
- avant toutto begin with
German erstens, an erster Stelle
- erstensto begin with
- an erster Stelleto begin with
- überhaupt erstto begin with
Greek πρώτα πρώτα, κατά κύριο λόγο
- πρώτα πρώτα (próta próta)to begin with
- κατά κύριο λόγο (katá kýrio lógo)to begin with
- καταρχήν (katarchín)to begin with
Hebrew מלכתחילה
- מלכתחילה (mil’khatchíla)to begin with
Hungarian eleve, először is
- eleveto begin with
- először isto begin with
- elsősorbanto begin with
Irish ó thús, ó thosach
- ó thústo begin with
- ó thosachto begin with
Italian per prima cosa
- per prima cosato begin with
Japanese そもそも, 先ず以て
- そもそも (somosomo)to begin with
- 先ず以て (mazumotte)to begin with
- 最初に (saisho-ni)to begin with
Korean 애초에, 처음부터
- 애초에 (aecho'e)to begin with
- 처음부터 (cheo'eumbuteo)to begin with
Latin prīmum
- prīmumto begin with
Polish w pierwszej kolejności
- w pierwszej kolejnościto begin with
Portuguese para começo de conversa
- para começo de conversato begin with
Russian в пе́рвую о́чередь, пре́жде всего́
- в пе́рвую о́чередь (v pérvuju óčeredʹ)to begin with
- пре́жде всего́ (préžde vsevó)to begin with
- пе́рвым де́лом (pérvym délom)to begin with
- снача́ла (snačála)to begin with
- сперва́ (spervá)to begin with
- в пе́рвую го́лову (v pérvuju gólovu)to begin with
Slovak v prvom rade, za prvé
- v prvom radeto begin with
- za prvéto begin with
- po prvéto begin with
- už vôbec nieto begin with
- vonkoncom nieto begin with
- a predovšetkýmto begin with
Spanish en primer lugar, para empezar
- en primer lugarto begin with
- para empezarto begin with
- de entradato begin with
- primeroto begin with
- desde el principioto begin with
- desde el comienzoto begin with
Swedish från början (första)
- från början (första)to begin with
Tamil முதலில்
- முதலில் (mutalil)to begin with
Thai ตั้งแต่แรก, ก่อนอื่น
- ตั้งแต่แรกto begin with
- ก่อนอื่นto begin with
Cite this entry
APA
in the first place. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20first%20place
MLA
“in the first place.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20first%20place. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the first place,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20first%20place.
Source: in the first place on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.