English
standfirst
From stand + first.
Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand’
Proto-Germanic *standaną ‘to stand’
Proto-West Germanic *standan ‘to stand’
Old English standan ‘to stand’
Middle English stonden ‘to stand’
English stand
Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before’
…
Proto-Germanic *furistaz ‘first’
Proto-West Germanic *furist
Old English fyrest
Middle English first
English first
Today it means
noun Explanatory text under the main heading of a news article, smaller than the heading but still larger than the main text.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “standfirst”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / standfirst