What is the difference between firstly and first?
firstly | first |
(formal) In the first place; before anything else; first.
*
Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Most eminent or exalted; most excellent; chief; highest.
* 1784 : William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c. ,
Before anything else; firstly.
* , chapter=8
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (uncountable) The person or thing in the first position.
* 1699 , ,
(uncountable) The first gear of an engine.
(countable) Something that has never happened before; a new occurrence.
(countable, baseball) first base
(countable, British, colloquial) A first-class honours degree.
(countable, colloquial) A first-edition copy of some publication.
A fraction of an integer ending in one.
First is a synonym of firstly.
As adverbs the difference between firstly and first
is that firstly is in the first place; before anything else; first while first is before anything else; firstly.As an adjective first is
preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest.As a noun first is
the person or thing in the first position.firstly
English
Adverb
(-)- Firstly , I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants. Secondly, I continue to base my concepts on intensive study of a limited suite of collections, rather than superficial study of every packet that comes to hand.
Usage notes
* Whether it is proper to use "firstly", rather than "first", has often been disputed. ** Beginning in the early 19th century with de Quincey, who erroneously believed that "firstly" was a neologism, some have argued against the use of "firstly", advocating the sequence: "First", "secondly", "thirdly", .... ** The usage of "firstly" is also deprecated by some modern style guides.International English UsageThe Chicago Manual of Style further recommends that all such -ly forms be avoided, and that list items begin only with "first", "second", and so forth. ** Other authorities disagree. *** The American Heritage Dictionary comments: ***: It is well established that either first'' or ''firstly'' can be used to begin an enumeration: ''Our objectives are, first'' (or ''firstly''), ''to recover from last year's slump. *** The Oxford English Dictionary'' notes the dispute but does not pass judgment: "many writers prefer ''first'', even though closely followed by ''secondly'', ''thirdly'', etc."
"Firstly" in the ''Oxford English Dictionary, online edition (subscription required) ** "Firstly" may appear more formal than "first" and is often recommended for the formal enumeration of arguments.
Writing in a Formal Style for Academic Purposes
Synonyms
* first * first of all * first upfirst
English
(wikipedia first)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) (m), .Alternative forms
* firste (archaic) * fyrst (obsolete) * fyrste (obsolete)Adjective
(-)Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).}}
PREFACE
- THE favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Per?ons of the fir?t di?tinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ?everal new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and di?tingui?h it from others; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.
Alternative forms
* ; (in names of monarchs and popes) IAdverb
(-)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.}}
Unspontaneous combustion, passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia.}}
Noun
Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.