An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Fürst

by Friedrich Kluge

Fürst, masculine, ‘‘sovereign, chief, prince,’ from Middle High German vürste, masculine, ‘the highest, most distinguished, ruler, prince,’ Old High German furisto, Old Saxon furisto, Dutch vorst, ‘prince’; like Herr, simply a German form. Just as Herr is originally a comparative of hehr, so is Fürst properly a superlat. meaning ‘first’; compare Old High German furist, Anglo-Saxon fyrst, English first, Old Icelandic fyrstr; Gothic *faúrista is wanting; the corresponding comparative is Old High German furiro, ‘the former, preferable,’ Old Icelandic fyrre, ‘former.’ The usual Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon word for ‘first’ is formo, forma, with the suffix ma (Gothic fruma); from Aryan pṛ like Greek πρόμος, Sanscrit pûrva-s, Old Slovenian prŭvŭ, Lithuanian pírmas, ‘first.’ It is evident that also vor, für, fort, &c., are derivatives of this Aryan root pṛ.