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first OE. fyr(e)st = OHG. furist (furisto prince, whence G. fürst), ON. fyrstr :- Gmc. *furistaz, superl. formation on *fur-, *for- (see FOR, -EST, and cf. FOREMOST) :- IE. *pr, whence the various formations with superl. suffixes meaning ‘first’, e.g. Gr. prôtos, prṓtistos, L. prīmus, Skr. prathamá-.
Hence firstling first product or offspring XVI. See -LING1.

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