Chiefly pl. [Orig. as two words; used as transl. of L. prīmitiæ.]
1. The fruits first gathered in a season; the earliest products of the soil; esp. with reference to the custom of making offerings of these to God or the gods.
1382. Wyclif, Num. xviii. 12. What euer thing thei shulen offre of first fruytis to the Lord.
1483. Cath. Angl., 132/1. Firste Frute, primicie.
1535. Coverdale, Lev. ii. 14. Yf thou wilt offre a meatofferynge of the first frutes vnto ye Lorde.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 434.
| Thither anon | |
| A sweatie Reaper from his Tillage brought | |
| First Fruits, the green Eare, and the yellow Sheaf, | |
| Uncull’d, as came to hand. |
1725. Pope, Odyss., XIV. 497.
| This said, the first-fruits to the Gods he gave; | |
| Then pour’d of offer’d wine the sable wave. |
1870. Bryant, Iliad, I. IX. 292.
| Diana of the golden throne had caused | |
| The war, displeased with Œneus, who withheld | |
| From her the first-fruits of his fertile field. |
2. transf. and fig. The earliest products, results, or issues of anything; the first products of a man’s work or endeavour.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lvi. (1611), 309. The first fruites of Christs Spirit.
1653. Walton, Angler, 56. It is a good beginning of your Art to offer your first fruits to the poor, who will both thank God and you for it.
1677. Waller, Loss Dk. Camb.
| As a First-fruit, Heaven claim’d that Lovely Boy; | |
| The next shall live, and be the nation’s joy. |
1718. Prior, Poems, Postscript to Pref. The blooming Hopes, which I said the World expected from my then very Young Patron, have been confirmed by most Noble First-Fruits; and his Life is going on towards a plentiful Harvest of all accumulated Virtues.
1866. J. H. Newman, Gerontius, iii. 25.
| That calm and joy uprising in thy soul | |
| Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense, | |
| And heaven begun. |
1868. Freeman, Norm. Conq. II. vii. 72. His overthrow at a later time was one of the first-fruits of the great national reaction against the strangers, and its supposed uncanonical character was one of the many pretences put forth by William to justify his invasion of England.
3. Eccl. and Feudal Law. A payment, usually representing the amount of the first year’s income, formerly paid by each new holder of a feudal or ecclesiastical benefice, or any office of profit, to some superior.
The first-fruits of the English bishoprics and other benefices were paid before the Reformation to the Pope, afterwards to the Crown: see ANNATES.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 66. It is symonye to serue þe pope in sich a straunge traueile and contre, & ȝeue hym gold for his lede, & þe frystefruytes for ȝifte of a chirche.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 729. Þey [freres] freten vp þe fu[r]ste-froyt.
1545. Brinkelow, Compl., 2 b. Of first frutes, both of benefices and of lordes landes.
1587. Harrison, England, II. i. (1877), I. 24. We may ioine also our first fruits, which is one whole yeares commoditie of our liuing.
1622. Bacon, Hen. VII., 16. Hee [the King] did vse to rayse them [Bishops] by steps; that hee might not loose the profit of the First-fruits, which by that course of Gradation was multiplied.
1710. Swift, Lett. to Harley, 7 Dec., Wks. 1841, II. 455. The first-fruits paid by incumbents upon their promotion amount to 450 l. per annum.
1767. Blackstone, Comm., II. 67. The king used to take as an average the first fruits, that is to say, one year’s profits of the land.
4. attrib., as first-fruit offering; first-fruits-book, a record of first-fruits.
1655. Fuller, The Church-History of Britain, I. X. vii. § 2. That there were in England foure thousand five hundred Benefices with Cure, not above ten, and most of them under eight pounds in the first fruits-book, which cannot be furnished with able Pastors, as the Petitioners desire, because of the smallness of their livings.
1695. Congreve, Love for Love, Prologue, 23.
| We who remain, would gratefully repay | |
| What our Endeavours can, and bring this day, | |
| The First-fruit. Offering, of a Virgin Play. |
Hence First-fruit v. trans., to offer or pay as first-fruits; First-fruitable a. (nonce-wds.).
1621. Bp. Mountagu, Diatribæ, 465. It was giuen them in charge, to first-fruit their Tenths, not onely of the increase of the Cattell, but also of whatsoeuer the ground brought forth. Ibid., 302. Euery herbe was Titheable for mans vse: and if so, then shew reason why not first-fruitable also.
