First in Different Languages
Discover 'First' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
First
Afrikaans eerste | ||
Albanian së pari | ||
Amharic አንደኛ | ||
Arabic أول | ||
Armenian առաջին | ||
Assamese প্ৰথম | ||
Aymara nayraqata | ||
Azerbaijani əvvəlcə | ||
Bambara fɔlɔ | ||
Basque lehenengoa | ||
Belarusian першы | ||
Bengali প্রথম | ||
Bhojpuri पहिला | ||
Bosnian prvo | ||
Bulgarian първо | ||
Catalan primer | ||
Cebuano una | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 第一 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 第一 | ||
Corsican primu | ||
Croatian prvi | ||
Czech první | ||
Danish først | ||
Dhivehi ފުރަތަމަ | ||
Dogri पैहला | ||
Dutch eerste | ||
English first | ||
Esperanto unue | ||
Estonian kõigepealt | ||
Ewe gbã | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) una | ||
Finnish ensimmäinen | ||
French première | ||
Frisian earste | ||
Galician primeira | ||
Georgian პირველი | ||
German zuerst | ||
Greek πρώτα | ||
Guarani peteĩha | ||
Gujarati પ્રથમ | ||
Haitian Creole premye | ||
Hausa na farko | ||
Hawaiian ka mua | ||
Hebrew ראשון | ||
Hindi प्रथम | ||
Hmong thawj zaug | ||
Hungarian első | ||
Icelandic fyrst | ||
Igbo mbụ | ||
Ilocano umuna | ||
Indonesian pertama | ||
Irish ar dtús | ||
Italian primo | ||
Japanese 最初 | ||
Javanese dhisik | ||
Kannada ಪ್ರಥಮ | ||
Kazakh бірінші | ||
Khmer ដំបូង | ||
Kinyarwanda mbere | ||
Konkani पयलें | ||
Korean 먼저 | ||
Krio fɔs | ||
Kurdish yekem | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) یەکەم | ||
Kyrgyz алгачкы | ||
Lao ກ່ອນ | ||
Latin primis | ||
Latvian vispirms | ||
Lingala ya liboso | ||
Lithuanian pirmas | ||
Luganda okusooka | ||
Luxembourgish éischten | ||
Macedonian прво | ||
Maithili पहिल | ||
Malagasy voalohany | ||
Malay pertama | ||
Malayalam ആദ്യം | ||
Maltese l-ewwel | ||
Maori tuatahi | ||
Marathi पहिला | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯍꯥꯟꯕ | ||
Mizo hmasa ber | ||
Mongolian эхнийх | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ပထမ | ||
Nepali पहिलो | ||
Norwegian først | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) choyamba | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପ୍ରଥମେ | ||
Oromo jalqaba | ||
Pashto لومړی | ||
Persian اولین | ||
Polish pierwszy | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) primeiro | ||
Punjabi ਪਹਿਲਾਂ | ||
Quechua ñawpaq | ||
Romanian primul | ||
Russian первый | ||
Samoan tulaga tasi | ||
Sanskrit प्रथमः | ||
Scots Gaelic a 'chiad | ||
Sepedi mathomo | ||
Serbian први | ||
Sesotho pele | ||
Shona chekutanga | ||
Sindhi پهريون | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) පළමුවන | ||
Slovak najprv | ||
Slovenian najprej | ||
Somali marka hore | ||
Spanish primero | ||
Sundanese mimitina | ||
Swahili kwanza | ||
Swedish först | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) una | ||
Tajik аввал | ||
Tamil முதல் | ||
Tatar башта | ||
Telugu ప్రధమ | ||
Thai อันดับแรก | ||
Tigrinya መጀመርታ | ||
Tsonga sungula | ||
Turkish ilk | ||
Turkmen ilki bilen | ||
Twi (Akan) deɛ ɛdi kan | ||
Ukrainian спочатку | ||
Urdu پہلا | ||
Uyghur بىرىنچى | ||
Uzbek birinchi | ||
Vietnamese đầu tiên | ||
Welsh yn gyntaf | ||
Xhosa ekuqaleni | ||
Yiddish ערשטער | ||
Yoruba akoko | ||
Zulu kuqala |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "eerste" also has the archaic meanings (rare today) of "chief" and "principal". |
| Albanian | The word "së pari" in Albanian is derived from the Latin "separare" (to separate), meaning "to be the first to do something". |
| Amharic | In early Semitic languages, ʾnḍ meant “lead, go before”. The name “India” derives, via Greek (Ἰνδία) and Persian (Hind) from Proto-Indo-Iranian (*Sindhu-), which in turn derives via Old Indo-Aryan (Sindhu-) from the same Semitic root. |
| Arabic | The word "أول" (awwal) can also mean "beginning" or "origin" in Arabic. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word առաջին originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *pr̥ǵʰós meaning “first,” “in front.” |
| Azerbaijani | The word "əvvəlcə" also means "initially" or "primarily". |
| Basque | The word "lehenengoa" in Basque also means "the first thing" or "the first time". |
| Belarusian | The word “першы” (pronounced pyarshy) can also mean “first class”, “prime” or “chief”. |
| Bengali | প্রথম (prathom) is also a synonym for 'first-rate', 'best', or 'foremost'. |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, 'prvo' can also mean 'the main' or 'the most important'. |
| Bulgarian | The word "първо" originates from the Proto-Slavic word "*pьrvъ", meaning "foremost" or "leading". |
| Catalan | In Catalan, "primer" can also mean "main course" in a meal |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, "una" is also used to refer to the beginning of any activity or event or the first instance of something. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "第一" can also mean "principle" or "main". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 第一 is also used in phrases like 「第一线」 (frontline) and 「第一把手」 (top leader). |
| Corsican | "Primu" also means "early" and "soon". |
| Croatian | The word 'prvi' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'pьrvъ', meaning 'the one who takes the lead'. |
| Czech | První can also mean 'original' or 'pristine', and is related to the word 'pravda' (truth). |
| Danish | "Første" can also mean "initially" or "at the top", in addition to "first in order". |
| Dutch | The word "eerste" in Dutch can also refer to the "best" or "most important" thing. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "unue" can also mean "singular" or "only". |
| Estonian | The word 'kõigepealt' derives from 'kõige', meaning 'the most', and 'pealt', meaning 'from the top' or 'from the beginning'. |
| Finnish | Ensimmäinen shares an origin with the words |
| French | In French, "première" can also refer to a first performance, showing, or screening of a movie or play. |
| Frisian | In Frisian, 'earste' also means 'the best' or 'the most prominent'. |
| Galician | Galician "primeira" also means "spring" (season), "the first thing" or "the first time of the year" |
| Georgian | The word "პირველი" can also refer to a chief, leader, or head of a group or organization. |
| German | "Zuerst" can also mean "at first" or "in the beginning." |
| Greek | πρώτα (first) may derive from the verb πείρω (to pierce, to pass through), implying the idea of coming first in time or space. |
| Gujarati | "પ્રથમ" also refers to "chief" which comes to it via Middle Persian and ultimately from Old Persian."paurvatama- " (foreman). |
| Haitian Creole | The word "premye" in Haitian Creole is derived from the French word "premier" and also means "primary" or "principal." |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "na farko" is also used to describe something that is primary, main, or original. |
| Hawaiian | "Ka mua" can also mean "before, ahead, in front of." |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "ראשון" can also mean "chief, leader" or "beginning, foundation". |
| Hindi | In Sanskrit, "प्रथम" also means "most important" or "chief", and is derived from the root "प्रथ" meaning "to spread out" or "to prevail". |
| Hmong | The word "thawj zaug" can also mean "top" or "the beginning". |
| Hungarian | The word "első" in Hungarian can also mean "best" or "main". |
| Icelandic | The word "fyrst" can also mean "prince" or "duke" in Icelandic, and originates from the same Proto-Germanic root as the English word "first". |
| Igbo | The Igbo word 'mbụ' can also refer to a 'head of the family' in addition to meaning 'first'. |
| Indonesian | The word "pertama" in Indonesian is derived from the Sanskrit word "prathamam" which also means "first". |
| Italian | In Italian, the masculine form of the superlative "first" is spelled "primo", while the feminine is "prima". |
| Japanese | '最初' in Japanese can also mean 'origin' or 'beginning'. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word for "first", dhisik, can also refer to an event that happens earlier in order of preference, importance, or in time |
| Kannada | The word "ಪ್ರಥಮ" in Kannada is also used to refer to the beginning of a new era or a new cycle of time. |
| Kazakh | The word "бірінші" can also mean "excellent" or "outstanding". |
| Khmer | The word "ដំបូង" could also mean "beginning" or "origin" in Khmer. |
| Korean | "먼저" can be split into "먼" and "저" which mean "far" and "that", respectively, to describe something that is the most distant or furthest. |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word 'yekem' not only means 'first' but also refers to the top of something or the beginning of an action. |
| Kyrgyz | "Алгачкы" word is derived from the Old Turkic "alğać" word, which means "in front" or "ahead". |
| Lao | "ກ່ອນ" is also used to refer to the elder or senior sibling of the family. |
| Latin | "Primis" is a Latin adverb meaning "at first" or "in the beginning." |
| Latvian | The word "vispirms" can also refer to the beginning or commencement of something. |
| Lithuanian | Despite meaning "first," "pirmas" is the final element in Lithuanian number series, e.g. trečias "third," ketvirtas "fourth." |
| Luxembourgish | The word "éischten" in Luxembourgish comes from the Old High German word "eist". It is cognate with the English word "first" and the German word "erster". The word has the same meaning in all three languages. |
| Macedonian | It etymologically derives from Proto-Indo-European word *per-wo- 'first', which is probably cognate with the Albanian parë 'first'. |
| Malagasy | The term "voalohany" also means "the right" or "the good". |
| Malay | "Pertama" in Malay, besides meaning "first", also refers to the first time something is done or experienced. |
| Malayalam | The word "ആദ്യം" also means "beginning" or "primary" in Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "l-ewwel" derives from the Arabic "awwal" ("first"), but has also acquired a secondary meaning of "the best" or "the most important". |
| Maori | Tuatahi also relates to the first gathering to prepare and cook something |
| Marathi | The word "पहिला" is also used in Marathi to mean "the eldest" or "the most important". |
| Mongolian | The word "эхнийх" can also refer to the "first time" or the "beginning" of something. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "ပထမ" (pathama) in Myanmar (Burmese) is derived from the Sanskrit word "प्रथम" (prathama), meaning "first or primary." |
| Nepali | "पहिलो" comes from the Sanskrit word "prathama", which means "first" or "chief." |
| Norwegian | In some contexts "først" can also mean "first course of a meal". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "choyamba" can also refer to the beginning or head of something. |
| Pashto | The word "لومړی" (lawmari) can also refer to the 'morning' in Pashto. |
| Persian | اولین derives from the Arabic word "awwal," which can also mean "prior" or "primary." |
| Polish | "Pierwszy" originates from the Proto-Slavic "pьrvyjь", derived from the same root as "pierze" (feather) and "pierś" (breast). Alternatively, it can refer to a wharf or a pier. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The term "primeiro" (first) is also used to indicate a beginner level in some contexts, such as "primeiro ano" (first year) in education. |
| Romanian | Primul is also an informal Romanian word for boyfriend or girlfriend. |
| Russian | The word "первый" can also mean "primary", "main", or "foremost" in Russian. |
| Samoan | "Tulaga Tasi" in Samoan is an ancient term for "first"} |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word 'a 'chiad' ('first') is also used to refer to the first of a group or series. |
| Serbian | The word "први" also means "foremost" or "principal" in Serbian. |
| Sesotho | 'Pele' can also refer to a young girl |
| Shona | The word "chekutanga" has an archaic meaning of "at that moment" or "then". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word “پهريون”, meaning “first”, has historical connections to the word “پهري”، meaning “to wear”. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word 'පළමුවන' ('first') in Sinhala is derived from the Sanskrit word 'prathama', which also means 'foremost' or 'chief'. |
| Slovak | The word "najprv" can also mean "at first" or "initially". |
| Slovenian | Najprej is also used in Slovenian to mean 'first of all', 'at first', or 'in the first place'. |
| Somali | The word "marka hore" also translates as "at first glance" |
| Spanish | The word 'primero' also means 'primer' in Spanish, referring to a small book containing basic information on a particular subject. |
| Sundanese | Mimitina can also mean 'first' in the sense of 'leading the way' or 'being in front'. |
| Swahili | Kwanza, meaning 'first', is also used in Swahili numerals where all numbers ending with the word refer to a number multiplied by one million. |
| Swedish | The word "först" is derived from the Old Norse word "fyrst", which means "prince" or "leader". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word 'una' also means 'head' and can be used in expressions like 'head of the class'. |
| Tajik | The word "аввал" is also used in the sense of "the beginning" or "the origin". |
| Tamil | The word 'முதல்' can also refer to 'the beginning,' 'the first of a series,' or 'the origin' in Tamil. |
| Telugu | ప్రధమ also means 'main' or 'chief' and is often used as a prefix in compound words. |
| Thai | The Thai word "อันดับแรก" can also be used to mean "the most important thing." |
| Turkish | The Turkish word 'ilk' originally meant 'thread' but later came to be used as a synonym for 'first' due to its association with the beginning of a thread. |
| Ukrainian | The word "спочатку" also means "at first" or "initially". |
| Urdu | The initial meaning of "پہلا" is "first born". |
| Uzbek | The word "birinchi" also has a secondary meaning of "primary" or "main" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | The word "Đầu tiên" in Vietnamese has its roots in the word "đầu" (head) and "tiên" (beginning), implying the idea of being at the forefront or the start of something. |
| Xhosa | The word "Ekuqaleni" in Xhosa also refers to the beginning or origin of something. |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, the word "ערשטער" not only means "first" but also carries a connotation of "just now" or a recent occurrence. |
| Yoruba | Akoko is sometimes confused with Akoka, an area in Lagos State. |
| Zulu | The word "kuqala" can also mean "to hold" or "to grip" in Zulu. |
| English | The word "first" derives from the Old English word "fyrst," which meant "front" or "beginning." |