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Glite Dictionary
first of all

first of all

890 1.0
To say the first or most important point at the start of a talk
  • idiom
translation icon : en primer lugar
  • first of all, we need to decide on a meeting time that works for everyone.
  • First of all, we need
  • First of all, they say
  • First of all, there appear

I think that first of all, I screen films.

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Examples

  • OK well, first of all, thank you to you both.

  • Philosophy is, first of all, concerned with understanding the unity of everything, the wholeness of the universe.

    Academic text (1991)

  • I think that first of all, I screen films.

    Film Courage

  • There was, first of all, the problem of what to call him.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • OK, so the question is, first of all, what color would you prefer?

  • Well, first of all, I never got my wallet back.

    Tim Kochis: Purple Heart (2013)

  • First of all, you never told me you had a child.

    Working Girls (1987)

  • OK, first of all, I came here not to make you famous, but to help you win that scholarship.

    Due Season (2022)

  • Well, I would like to thank the Guardian, first of all, for hiring my mom.

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

  • First of all, you got the flow system all reversed.

    Armageddon (1998)

Synonyms

first off
vsfirst of all
  • Informal
77 2.8

To say something before you do anything else

focuses more on stating the first or most important point in discussion
first up
vsfirst of all
  • Informal
52 3.7

To say which person or thing comes first

emphasizes the first or most important point rather than simple order
firstly
vsfirst of all
50 1.0

To give the first reason or point in a list

is more conversational and stresses the first or most important idea
imprimis
vsfirst of all
  • Archaic
9.9

To name first what is most important in a list

is used more generally at the start without such strong formality

Surface Forms

first of all positive

Morphology

first + of + all

The meaning 'to introduce the first or most important point' is directly inferable from combining 'first' (preceding others) with 'of all' (among everything), so the compositional sense is clear. This is a conventional discourse marker with close equivalents in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily understand its function.

Etymology

First of all comes from the simple image of a list: the first item stands in front of all the rest, so we say it when we want to start with the most important point. That's why it means 'to introduce the first or most important point'.