An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/First

by Friedrich Kluge

First, masculine, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German virst, Old High German first, masculine, ‘ridge of a roof, summit’; compare Low German and Dutch (with gradation), vorst, ‘ridge of a roof,’ Anglo-Saxon first, fyrst, feminine; Gothic *faírsti- or fairshti- is wanting. Allied to Sanscrit pṛšṭhá-m, neuter, ‘back, summit, mountain-peak,’ which is nearest in sound to Dutch vorst. From Teutonic, Old French freste, Provençal frest, ‘gable,’ are derived.