Etymology Explorer › German

Where does “zuerst” come from?

zuerst (German) comes from German zū, from Middle High German zuo, from Old High German zuo, from Proto-West Germanic *tō, from Proto-Germanic tō, from Proto-Indo-European de — Emphatic or contrastive particle, and, but;...

zuerst (German): first, firstly; at first

Definitions

  1. first, firstly; at first

Ancestry of “zuerst”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanzū—
2Middle High Germanzuo—
3Old High Germanzuoto
4Proto-West Germanic*tō—
5Proto-Germanictōto
6Proto-Indo-EuropeandeEmphatic or contrastive particle, and, but;...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European de →