early
adverb
in or during the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc..
early
1 American
[ur-lee]
/ ˈɜr li /
adverb
earlier,
earliest
-
in or during the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc..
early in the year.
-
in the early part of the morning.
to get up early.
-
before the usual or appointed time; ahead of time.
They came early and found their hosts still dressing.
-
far back in time.
The Greeks early learned to sail and navigate.
adjective
-
earlier,
comparative
-
earliest
superlative
-
occurring in the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc..
an early hour of the day.
- Synonyms:
- initial
-
occurring before the usual or appointed time.
an early dinner.
- Synonyms:
- premature, beforehand
-
belonging to a period far back in time.
early French architecture.
-
occurring in the near future.
I look forward to an early reply.
-
(of a fruit or vegetable) appearing or maturing before most others of its type.
early apples.
noun
-
earlies
plural
idioms
Early
2
American
[ur-lee]
/ ˈɜr li /
noun
early
British
/ ˈɜːlɪ /
adjective
-
before the expected or usual time
-
occurring in or characteristic of the first part of a period or sequence
-
occurring in or characteristic of a period far back in time
-
occurring in the near future
-
not before the time or date mentioned
-
too soon to tell how things will turn out
adverb
-
before the expected or usual time
-
near the first part of a period or sequence
I was talking to him earlier
early
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of early
First recorded before 950; Middle English erlich (adjective), erliche (adverb), Old English ǣrlīc, ǣrlīce, variant of ārlīc, ārlīce, from ār “soon, early” ( see ere) + līc(e) -ly
Explanation
Something that's early happens right at the beginning of some specific time period, or before you expect it to happen. An early party guest shows up before the party starts. An early riser gets up with the sun every morning, and you might eat an early dinner at five in the evening. If you're in your early twenties, you're closer to 20 than 30, while the early 20th century was the time period before 1950. If a baby comes early, she's born before her expected due date. The Old English source is ærlice, "early," which comes from ær, "soon" or "ere."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
By advocating for voting early, the "No Kings" organizers hope to cut off the potential for any malfeasance once election day rolls around.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
Lane said he expects management to provide further details on that early AI momentum during the company’s Oct.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
Equipped with advanced perception systems that give way to merging cars and detect hazards early, these autonomous vehicles are suited to handle repetitive depot-to-depot routes known as the middle mile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Combined with low humidity, the dry vegetation is catching fire more easily and supported the Norte fire’s rapid spread early on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Father, Betsie, and I had come early with a quarter-pound of real English tea from Pickwick.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Early on, Sakurai exploits the inherent absurdity of telling a story populated by so many ludicrous characters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
"Comparing the decoration techniques… we can definitely say our wreck is Early Bronze Age. This is 100%."
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Early results were promising: After several quarters of double-digit declines, the chain’s overall transactions stabilized in June and turned positive in early July.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Early fossil finds in Zimbabwe were overlooked by many scientists and it was not until the 1970s that they became more generally known.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
Early the next morning, Abby came to the kennel Fred shared with a dozen other dogs.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
"The later crops, the second earlies, are more a concern, because they're at tuber initiation stage," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2023
Circumcising babies when they are at their earlies stage of development-imprinting every experience- is bad medicine.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 12, 2012
After Panetta met with the Washington Post’s David Ignatius earlies this month, the columnist wrote that “Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June.”
From Time ● Feb. 23, 2012
If you, like me, have long been befuddled by potato planting classifications – earlies, second earlies, maincrop, lates – this podcast is revelatory.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 2, 2010
He caught himself thinking, as he saw them, of Stock Exchanges, two-penny-tubes, Belgravia dinner parties, private views, "small and earlies," musical comedy, and all the rest of the dismal and meager program.
From The Centaur by Algernon Blackwood
Duwai said water temperatures reached up to 39C during a heatwave earlier this year, and there was widespread bleaching of the thousands of planted corals.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
But volatility often accompanies large and quick moves, and that’s particularly true when “turbulence hits major markets, causing liquidity-driven selloffs” like the one seen earlier this week, Samuelson said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
Contemporary artworks not shown in earlier exhibitions continue the gallery’s commitment to staying current.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier this week, Thomas Woldbye, the airport's chief executive, said it would be "good to know" the government's position on the project.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Lines of old corn stubble planted in some earlier year rode the eroding rises.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
The superfast 140-mile rail line between London and Birmingham will cost up to $971 million a mile by the time it’s fully open—currently estimated for 2040 at the earliest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Because amyloid can accumulate silently in the brain for many years before memory problems begin, researchers are increasingly interested in treating people during the earliest stages of the disease, potentially before noticeable symptoms appear.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
"They really do go straight to surgery only for the earliest stage tumors, which makes me think this was a very early stage tumor, and has a quite good prognosis."
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Invictibellatrix, meaning "unconquered female warrior", is one of the smallest and earliest of the group to be found, living in the Early Cretaceous period about 120 million years ago.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
I know you are a very private individual, but perhaps we could speak on the phone at your earliest convenience?
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
