Is there a source displaying when and where a word was first attested?

Question

Is there a source at which one can find out when and where a word first came into use/print? Especially interested in scientific discourse.

Answer 1

The Oxford English Dictionary quotes early attestations for most of the words in the dictionary. The latest edition is available online, but most of the entries require a payed subscription to access them.

The first edition is out of copyright and available for free at archive.org (links to each volume are given here).