first of all

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adverb

first of all (not comparable)

1. (sequence, idiomatic) Firstly; before anything else.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1271–1272:

     Be strong, live happie, and love, but first of all / Him whom to love is to obey, and keep / His great command; […]

   • 1997, Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang, page 185:

     "My dear sir," said Hube in an authoritative manner to the receptionist askancing Thales, "first of all, we aren't tourists. Secondly, this isn't a rat, this is the present embodiment of the spiritual leader of millions of people in India […]

   • 2019, J.R. Roberts, Death in Denver, Speaking Volumes, →ISBN:

     "I must say, I quite enjoy having the best detective in the business, and the fastest gun in the West, on my payroll." "First of all," Clint said tightly, "I'm not the fastest gun in the West, and second, I'm not on your payroll." Royce held up both of his hands. "I didn't mean to offend you, sir […]"

Synonyms

• first, firstly, first up; see also Thesaurus:firstly

Translations

before anything else

• Albanian : Ne Fillim (sq)
• Arabic: أَوَّلًا (ʔawwalan), قَبْلَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (qabla kulli šayʔin), بَادِئَ ذِي بَدْءٍ (bādiʔa ḏī badʔin)
• Aromanian: ntãnj, ntãnjiu
• Bashkir: иң тәүҙә (iñ təwźə), иң башта (iñ başta); (in enumeration) беренсенән (berensenən)
• Belarusian: перш за ўсё (pjerš za ŭsjo)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 首先 (zh) (shǒuxiān)

• Crimean Tatar: er şeyden evel, eñ evelâ
• Dutch: in de eerste plaats, bovenal (nl), om te beginnen, ten eerste (nl)
• Finnish: ensiksi (fi), ennen muuta (fi)
• French: tout d’abord (fr), en premier lieu (fr), avant toutes choses (fr)
• German: zunächst (de), zuallererst (de)
• Gothic: 𐌹𐌽 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌼 (in frumistjam)
• Greek: πρώτα απ’ όλα (próta ap’ óla)
• Hebrew: קודם כל
• Hindi: प्रथमतः (hi) (prathamtaḥ)
• Hungarian: elsősorban (hu), mindenekelőtt (hu)
• Ingrian: enstää, ensti, ensiks
• Italian: innanzitutto (it), prima di tutto, per prima cosa, come prima cosa, primariamente (it), in primo luogo, anzitutto (it), in primis (it)
• Japanese: 先ず (ja) (まず, mazu)
• Korean: 우선 (ko) (useon)
• Polish: przede wszystkim (pl), najpierw (pl), po pierwsze (pl)
• Portuguese: primeiro de tudo, antes de mais nada, antes de tudo, em primeiro lugar
• Romanian: întâi (ro), mai întâi, înainte de toate
• Russian: пре́жде всего́ (ru) (préžde vsevó)
• Spanish: en primer lugar
• Tagalog: una sa lahat
• Ukrainian: перш за все (perš za vse), передусім (peredusim)
• Vietnamese: trước hết (vi), trước nhất (vi), trước tiên (vi)