firstling

American  

[furst-ling] / ˈfɜrst lɪŋ /

noun

1. the first of its kind to be produced or to appear.

2. first offspring.

3. a first product or result.

---

firstling British  

/ ˈfɜːstlɪŋ /

noun

1. the first, esp the first offspring

---

Etymology

Origin of firstling

First recorded in 1525–35; first + -ling ¹

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

firstling

More important than a firstling mother's age is her general health, the normality of her construction.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then snatch'd Meriones in haste the bow From Teucer's hand; his own already held His arrow, pointed straight; he drew the string, And to the far-destroying King he vow'd Of firstling lambs a solemn hecatomb.

From The Iliad by Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Earl of Derby

His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns like the Horns of Unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth.”—Deut. xxxiii.

From The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882 by Joseph Wild

No grateful sacrifice, No firstling lambs, unheedful! didst thou vow To Phoebus, patron of the shaft and bow.

From The Iliad by Alexander Pope

And when the season of frost comes on, stitch together skins of firstling kids with ox-sinew, to put over your back and to keep off the rain.

From Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica by Hugh G. (Hugh Gerard) Evelyn-White

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---