erst
Americanadverb
adverb
-
long ago; formerly
-
at first
Etymology
Origin of erst
before 1000; Middle English erest, Old English ǣrest (cognate with Old High German ērist, German erst ), equivalent to ǣr ere + -est -est 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Frequent is heard the voice of woe, Frequent the tears of sorrow flow; Such sounds as erst, in Camlan heard, Roused to wrath old Arthur’s bard; Cambria’s warrior we deplore; Our Llewelyn is no more.
From Project Gutenberg
A stable, erst his scorn and hate, Was now become his wish’d retreat; His passion cool, his pride forgot, A FARMER’S welcome yard he sought.
From Project Gutenberg
A Would-be "Literary Gent."—The following is from the Daily Telegraph:— Literary.—A gentleman who erst wrote for recreation, is driven, through cruel misfortune, to resume his pen for a livelihood.
From Project Gutenberg
He brought them into the basilica, a long open gallery which lighted the various apartments, and in which clients and visitors erst awaited the call of the Nomenclator.
From Project Gutenberg
The former still writes; the latter, erst a gay man of fashion and then metamorphosed into a zealous Jesuit, is now devoting his missionary labors to Syria.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
