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English [ edit ] Pronunciation [ edit ] Audio (Mid-Atlantic) (file )
Prepositional phrase [ edit ] at first
( idiomatic ) Initially ; at the start .
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
1897 December (indicated as 1898 ), Winston Churchill , chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode The Macmillan Company ; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. , →OCLC page 51 :“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
Synonyms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ] initially; at the start
Armenian: նախ (hy) ( nax ) , սկզբում ( skzbum )
Bashkir: тәүҙә ( täwðä ) , башта ( başta ) , алда ( alda ) , алдан ( aldan ) , борон ( boron ) , элек ( elek )
Belarusian: спача́тку (be) ( spačátku ) , спярша́ ( spjaršá )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 起初 (zh) ( qǐchū )
Czech: zpočátku (cs) , nejprve (cs)
Dutch: aanvankelijk (nl)
Esperanto: unue
Finnish: ensin (fi) , ensiksi (fi) , ensi alkuun (fi)
French: d'abord (fr) , au début
German: zuerst (de) , zunächst (de) , anfänglich (de) , anfangs (de)
Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית (he) ( bereshít ) , תְּחִלָּה ( tḥilá )
Hungarian: először (hu) , eleinte (hu) , kezdetben (hu)
Irish: ar dtús i dtosach Old Irish: i tosuch
Italian: dapprima (it) , all' inizio sulle prime
Japanese: 始めは (ja) ( はじめは, hajime wa )
Kazakh: әуел баста ( äuel basta )
Korean: 처음 에 는 ( cheo'eumeneun )
Lao: ທີ່ຕົ້ນ ( thī ton )
Latin: primitus primum (la)
Polish: z początku na początku (pl)
Portuguese: a princípio
Russian: снача́ла (ru) ( snačála ) , сперва́ (ru) ( spervá ) , понача́лу (ru) ( ponačálu ) , пре́жде (ru) ( préžde )
Sanskrit: प्रथमम् (sa) ( prathamam )
Scottish Gaelic: an toiseach sa chiad dol a-mach
Spanish: al principio en un principio al inicio
Swedish: först (sv) , till en början
Ukrainian: споча́тку (uk) ( spočátku ) , спе́ршу ( spéršu ) , напе́ршу ( napéršu )
Vietnamese: mới đầu
Yakut: бастаан ( bastaan )