first-week

The compound 'first-week' is a modern English formation combining two native Germanic elements. 'First' originates from the Old English superlative form of 'fore', itself from Proto-Germanic furistaz, meaning "foremost," which is built on the Proto-Indo-European root per- (forward, through). 'Week' descends from Old English wice, likely from a Germanic root meaning "a turning" or "succession," related to the concept of change. The logic of the compound is transparently literal: it directly denotes the initial succession of seven days in any given sequence, a concept that became particularly relevant with the standardization of calendars and structured schedules.

Structure: first (ordinal) + week (time period) - first: From Old English fyrst, fyrest, related to fore (before). Its functional role is as an ordinal numeral indicating position before all others. - week: From Old English wice, wicu, meaning a period of seven days. Its functional role is as a noun denoting a specific unit of time.