first floor
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
In England the first floor is the story next above the ground-floor, or entrance floor; but in America it is the ground floor itself.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “first floor” mean?
In England the first floor is the story next above the ground-floor, or entrance floor; but in America it is the ground floor itself.
Is “first floor” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.