in the first place

in the first place (http://definr.com/in the first place)

     adv 1: before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
            [syn: earlier, in the beginning, to begin with,
            originally]
     2: of primary import; "this is primarily a question of
        economics"; "it was in the first place a local matter"
        [syn: primarily] [ant: secondarily]