Hypertext Webster Gateway: "erst"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Erst \Erst\ ([~e]rst), adv. [Orig. superlative of ere; AS.
[=ae]rest. See {Ere}.] [Archaic]
1. First. --Chaucer.
2. Previously; before; formerly; heretofore. --Chaucer.
Tityrus, with whose style he had erst disclaimed all
ambition to match his pastoral pipe. --A. W. Ward.
{At erst}, at first; at the beginning.
{Now at erst}, at this present time. --Chaucer.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
erst
adv : at a previous time; "once he loved her"; "her erstwhile
writing" [syn: {once}, {formerly}, {at one time}, {erstwhile}]
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