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.

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firstling British  

/ ˈfɜːstlɪŋ /

noun

1. the first, esp the first offspring

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Etymology

Origin of firstling

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

Example Sentences

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

From Time Magazine Archive

The firstling swallow flying,     Later, owlets will be crying.

From The Dales of Arcady by Ratcliffe, Dorothy Una

No matter how crude or how young this firstling might come to seem to her, there would never be such another.

From Bambi by Cooke, Marjorie Benton

Such is thy mother, O firstling, yet strong as the maidens of old, Whose spears and whose swords were the warders of homestead, of field, and of fold.

From Poems By The Way & Love Is Enough by Morris, William

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 Derby, Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Earl of