first is on the Basic English 850 List.
fire - first - fish
first is one of the 1000 most common headwords.
fire - first - fish
English numbers (edit)
10
 ←  0 1 2  →  10  → 
    Cardinal: one
    Ordinal: first
    Frequency: once
    Multiplier: single
    Distributive: singly
    Fractional: whole
    Number of musicians: solo

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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Positive
first

Comparative
none

Superlative
none

  1. (ordinal number) Happening or coming before all other similar things or people.
    I don't like the job much at first.
    She always puts her children first.
    I have no older brothers. I was the first child.
  2. The most important or best.
    Your first duty is to your family.
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Adverb

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Positive
first

Comparative
none

Superlative
none

  1. Before anyone/anything else.
    She regarded herself, first and last, as a musician.
    He does a little teaching, but first and foremost he's a writer.
    First (of all), I should say that we're happy to see you all here today.
    First off, let's see how much it'll cost.
    He was the fastest in class and usually finished everything first.
  2. For the first time.
    I first went to Japan in 1994.
  3. At first.
    When we were first married, everything was wonderful.

Singular
first

Plural
firsts

  1. (countable) A first is something that has not happened before.
    A dog walking on stilts? Well, that is a first.
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