første

Første is the Norwegian and Danish word for "first." It functions as an ordinal numeral used to indicate the element that comes before all others in a sequence. In everyday language it appears before a noun, for example "første plass" (first place) or in phrases such as "Første verdenskrig" (First World War).

Etymology and cognates: The word derives from Old Norse fyrsti, from Proto-Germanic *furstiz, and is part of a family of related words in the Germanic languages. Cognates include Swedish första and Danish første, while German uses erste and English first share a common ancestor.

Usage and grammar: In Norwegian and Danish, første is the standard ordinal form used before nouns to denote the first item in a sequence. It also appears in fixed phrases and as part of titles such as "Første verdenskrig." The term is widely used in dates, lists, sports, history, and literary contexts to designate primacy or the initial position in a series.

See also: The concept has cognates across Scandinavian languages and is related to the wider Germanic word family for numbers and ordinals.