•first, first of all, in the first place, to begin with, initially · for now, for the time being · next, then, secondly (immediately following the first thing)
köken: From archaic and dialectal întâniu, from Vulgar Latin *antaneus, metathesis of Latin *anteanus (“former, prior”) (cf. French French ancien), from Latin ante, or alternatively from a root *antevenium, from anteveniō. Compare Aromanian ntãnj, ntãnjiu.
From Middle High German ze næhste (“close, directly next”). Equivalent to zu + nächst. The sense “first” developed because from the perspective of the start the next thing to do is the first thing.