zunächst
German, adverb/tsuˈnɛːçst/
zunächst is spelled Z-U-N-Ä-C-H-S-T (8 letters) and appears 174 times per million words in written German, the 492nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zunächst is a German adverb meaning “first, first of all, in the first place, to begin with, initially” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “vor einer zeitlichen oder abstrakten Reihenfolge”.
What does zunächst mean in English?
adverb
- 1
first, first of all, in the first place, to begin with, initially
Um Brot zu backen, braucht man zunächst etwas Mehl.
- 2
for now, for the time being
Die Ursache des Unfalls bleibt zunächst unklar.
- 3
archaicnext, then, secondly (immediately following the first thing)
Er nahm zuerst den Mantel, zunächst den Hut, schließlich den Schirm.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. vor einer zeitlichen oder abstrakten Reihenfolge 2. am Anfang, zu Beginn 3. räumlich benachbart
preposition: 1. direkt neben, nahe bei, in der Nähe von
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce zunächst?
- /tsuˈnɛːçst/
- /-ˈneːçst/
- [t͡suˈnɛːçst]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to zunächst
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is zunächst in German?
zunächst appears 174 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).