firstling

English

Etymology

From first +‎ -ling.

Noun

firstling (plural firstlings)

1. The first produce or result, notably firstborn offspring.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 4:4:

     And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto II:

     The seasons bring the flower again,
     ⁠And bring the firstling to the flock;
     ⁠And in the dusk of thee, the clock
     Beats out the little lives of men.

2. The first of a class or kind.
3. The thing first thought or done.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     From this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand.

Adjective

firstling (not comparable)

1. Firstborn.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 15:19:

     All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

References

• “firstling”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “firstling”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• flirtings, triflings