adj foremost; in front of, or in advance of, all others.
2. first ·adj most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest; as, demosthenes was the first orator of greece.
3. first ·adv before any other person or thing in time, space, rank, ·etc.;
much used in composition with adjectives and participles.
4. first ·adj preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest; as, the first day of a month; the first year of a reign.
5. first ·noun the upper part of a duet, trio, ·etc., either vocal or instrumental;
so called because it generally expresses the air, and has a preeminence in the combined effect.