first edition

noun

: the copies of a literary work first printed from the same type and issued at the same time

also : a single copy from a first edition

Examples of first edition in a Sentence

There were many errors in the book's first edition.

She owns a valuable first edition of Huckleberry Finn.

Recent Examples on the Web

No one predicted the sleepy backwater of Sassnitz would be rebranded ‘Crashnitz’ or ‘Smashnitz’ by the end of the first edition of the German Sail Grand Prix last year. — Andrew Rice, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

The maps in today’s fantasy epics are distant cousins of the woodcut that illustrated the first edition of Utopia, and which imagined the faraway island. — Carline Tromp, The Dial, 18 Aug. 2026

During his time at Rolling Stone, Marsh spearheaded the first edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide in 1979. — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 15 Aug. 2026

Sarajevo is a film festival born out of war — its first edition, in 1995, took place while the city was still under siege — and that sense of resistance, of using film to empower communities, still sits at the heart of the festival today. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1542, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for first edition

• abolition
• acquisition
• admonition
• ammunition
• apparition
• apposition
• coalition
• competition
• composition
• definition
• deglutition
• demolition