An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/erst

by Friedrich Kluge

erst, adjective, ‘first,’ from Middle High German êrst, Old High German êrist, ‘the first’; corresponding to Old Saxon êrist, Anglo-Saxon œ̂rest, ‘the first’; superlat. of the comparative form cited under eher. Gothic airis, adverb, formerly,’ airiza, ‘predecessor, ancestor,’ Old High German êriro (êrro), ‘predecessor’; the positive is preserved in Gothic air. adverb, ‘early,’ Anglo-Saxon œ̂r, adjective adverb, ‘early,’ Old Icelandic ár, adverb, ‘early’ (Old High German êr-acchar, ‘‘awake early’). Probably the stem air-, on which the word was based, was used originally like früh, only of the hours of the day. It is connected most probably with Greek ἦρς, ‘early in the morning.’