erst

Etymology 1

From Middle English erste, from Old English ǣresta (“first”), from Proto-West Germanic *airist (“earliest, first”), equivalent to ere + -est. Cognate with North Frisian eerst, ærst (“first”), West Frisian earst (“first”), Dutch eerste (“first”), German erste (“first”).

adj

1. (obsolete) First.

Etymology 2

From Middle English erst, arst, erest, from Old English ǣrest (“first, erst, at first, before all”), from Proto-West Germanic *airist(ō) (“erst”). Cognate with Scots erst (“erst”), Dutch eerst.

adv

1. (obsolete) First of all, before (some other specified thing).
   Consider what I erst have been and what thou seest me now: 1567, Arthur Golding, Ovid's Metamorphoses, book 2, line 691
2. (obsolete) Sooner (than); before.
3. (archaic, poetic) Formerly, once, erstwhile.