Whether there is an English word “Firstly”
By Bai Dongyi
I was astonished when I heard the word “firstly” doesn’t exist. So I decide to search for some information to try to get the truth.
First (I doesn’t use “firstly”), I look up the word in several English dictionaries. Here are the results:
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary (Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd)
firstly
You use firstly in speech or writing when you want to give a reason, make a point, or mention an item that will be followed by others connected with it.
The program is now seven years behind schedule as a result, firstly of increased costs, then of technical problems.
Vitamin C has many roles to play in weight control. Firstly, it is needed for hormone production.
ADV: ADV with cl/group
= in the first place
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
(Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company, updated in 2003 and Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.)
firstly
adv.
In the first place; to begin with.
Usage Note: It is well established that either first or firstly can be used to begin an enumeration: Our objectives are, first (or firstly), to recover from last year's slump. Any succeeding items should be introduced by words parallel to the form that is chosen, as in first... second... third or firstly... secondly... thirdly.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
firstly
/ˈfəːstli US -əːr-/ adv [sentence adverb]
used to say that the fact or reason that you are going to mention is the first one and will be followed by others
→finally, lastly lastly
In the Oxford dictionary, I can’t find the word.
Second, I look up the word in online dictionary websites as well:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/firstly
4 results for: firstly
first·ly 
–adverb
| in the first place; first. |
[Origin: 1525–35; first + -ly
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) |
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| first·ly Usage Note: It is well established that either first or firstly can be used to begin an enumeration: Our objectives are, first (or firstly), to recover from last year's slump. Any succeeding items should be introduced by words parallel to the form that is chosen, as in first . . . second . . . third or firstly . . . secondly . . . thirdly.
|
|
firstly |
|
|
| before anything else; "first we must consider the garter snake" [syn: first] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
ˈ
firstly adverb
in the first place
Example: I have three reasons for not going — firstly, it's cold, secondly, I'm tired, and thirdly, I don't want to!
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=29121&dict=CALD
firstly
adverb (ALSO first)
used to refer to the first thing in a list:
There are two very good reasons why we can't do it. Firstly, we don't have enough money, and secondly, we don't have enough time.
Well, in my view, words belong to languages and languages live in people’s life rather than in dictionaries. So I use 2 popular search engines to check how often people use the word “firstly”. The results are as follow:
We get 2,170,000 results.
Yahoo
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=firstly&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fp_ip=HK
We get 57,300,000 results.
We have to admit that many people use “firstly” on the Internet.
Third, I also find some discussions about the existence of “firstly”. Here is one.
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic6409.html
Jasna :
Hello everybody.
Our teacher of speaking/writing skills told us the other day that many of us made a mistake in our essay using 'firstly', 'secondly' etc. (we were supposed to clarify a certain point of view, i.e. to provide reasons). Her exact words were: 'Where did you come across those words? They do not exist in English'. I checked several dictionaries and all of them contained entries 'firstly' and 'secondly'. I am totally confused because she lived in the UK for many years and is a good speaker of English in general.
Can anybody prove her wrong?
Thanks,
Alan :
Hi Jasna,
I'd hate to come between you and your teacher but I must say that firstly was first used in the sense of in the first place in the 17th century and secondly probably during the 18th century and this is verified in the Oxford English Dictionary which is based as they say on historical principles. This means that the use of words is recorded as and when they were first used.
Finally, I think languages are only tools for people to communicate. Language does not stay unchanged. Every day, new words and new usages of words come to being. Languages are created by people. Maybe, once everyone can understand each other, there is no point to argue whether a word is wrong or right.
ource: EOI 2007
