This week’s theme
Short words

This week’s words
vuln
oik
kerf
leal
erst


This week’s comments
AWADmail 1200

Next week’s theme
Unusual antonyms

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(uhrst)

MEANING:

adverb: Formerly: in the past.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English ǣrest (first), superlative of ǣr (early). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ayer- (day, morning), which also gave us early and ere. Earliest documented use: before 1150. The word is more commonly found in the adjective form erstwhile.

USAGE:

“You can’t jog the four flights from your university office up to the seminar room as erst you did and still speak sentences when you get there.”
John Barth; Romancing the Muse; The New York Times; Jan 20, 1991.

See more usage examples of erst in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: