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(obsolete) First.
(obsolete) First of all, before (some other specified thing). quotations
Consider what I erst have been and what thou seest me now:
1567, Arthur Golding, Ovid's Metamorphoses, book 2, line 691
(obsolete) Sooner (than); before. quotations
Thenne he sente the varlet ageyne and bad hym telle Kyng Mark that I wille come as soone as I am hole / for erste I maye doo hym noo good"Then he sent the varlet again, and bade him: Tell King Mark that I will come as soon as I am whole, for erst I may do him no good. "(please add an English translation of this quotation)
1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxviij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book X
(archaic, poetic) Formerly, once, erstwhile. quotations
When lofty trees I see barren of leavesWhich erst from heat did canopy the herd
1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 12”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley