firstly

adverb

first·​ly ˈfərst-lē 

: in the first place : first

Synonyms

• initially
• originally
• primarily

Examples of firstly in a Sentence

firstly, gather all the ingredients together

Recent Examples on the Web

As Cao and his colleagues note, however, there is something strange about the population of hypervelocity stars; firstly, their speeds max out at around 435 miles per second, even though our calculations suggest this should be only their average velocity. —Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2025

Diego Simeone could spring some surprises with his line-up, firstly by standing by goalkeeper Juan Musso despite question marks over his performance in the first leg. —Sam Leveridge, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025

Its detection means that, firstly, JADES-GS-z13-1-LA produced enough high-energy radiation to excite its neutral hydrogen, and secondly that there was little neutral hydrogen between the galaxy and Earth to block the Lyman-α photons from reaching us in the present. —Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025

Now, the Democratic Party’s institutional failure to focus firstly on the economic security of working families has had epic consequences. —John Samuelsen, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

firstly

adverb

first·​ly ˈfərst-lē 

: in the first place