early

¹

[ ur-lee ]

adverb

, ear·li·er, ear·li·est.

1. in or during the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc.:

   early in the year.

2. in the early part of the morning:

   to get up early.

3. before the usual or appointed time; ahead of time:

   They came early and found their hosts still dressing.

4. far back in time:

   The Greeks early learned to sail and navigate.

adjective

, ear·li·er, ear·li·est.

1. 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

2. occurring before the usual or appointed time:

   an early dinner.

   Synonyms: premature, beforehand

3. belonging to a period far back in time:

   early French architecture.

4. occurring in the near future:

   I look forward to an early reply.

5. (of a fruit or vegetable) appearing or maturing before most others of its type:

   early apples.

noun

, plural ear·lies.

1. a fruit or vegetable that appears before most others of its type.

Early

²

[ ur-lee ]

noun

1. Ju·bal Anderson [joo, -b, uh, l], 1816–94, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.

early

/ ˈɜːlɪ /

adjective

1. before the expected or usual time
2. occurring in or characteristic of the first part of a period or sequence
3. occurring in or characteristic of a period far back in time
4. occurring in the near future
5. at the earliest
   at the earliest not before the time or date mentioned
6. early days
   early days too soon to tell how things will turn out

adverb

1. before the expected or usual time
2. near the first part of a period or sequence

   I was talking to him earlier

Derived Forms

• ˈearliness, noun

Other Words From

• earli·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of early¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English erlich (adjective), erliche (adverb), Old English ǣrlīc, ǣrlīce, variant of ārlīc, ārlīce, from ār “soon, early” ( ere ) + līc(e) -ly

Word History and Origins

Origin of early¹

Old English ǣrlīce, from ǣr ere + -līce -ly ²; related to Old Norse arliga

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. early on, with but little time elapsed; early in the course of a process, project, etc.; early in the game.

More idioms and phrases containing early

• bright and early

Example Sentences

Working two guided trips a summer could earn early guides enough to buy a few more cows and raise the quality of life of an entire extended family.

From Outside Online

They pointed to an earlier message McCoy posted prior to his apology giving a different reason for deleting his post about obese people.

From Washington Blade

The earlier proposal called for a 25,599-square-foot building.

From Washington Blade

To find the case assignments that went to ineligible attorneys, we compared the assignment date to the earliest date that an attorney appeared on a list in any court in the state.

From ProPublica

In the earlier cold snap, the grid was pushed to the limit and rolling blackouts swept the state, spurring an angry Legislature to order a study of what went wrong.

From ProPublica

When cities started adding chlorine to their water supplies, in the early 1900s, it set off public outcry.

From The Daily Beast

It’s cool because Trenchmouth opened for Green Day in the early ‘90s in Wisconsin.

From The Daily Beast

At first—it was the early stages of reporting—I was amused at having been so crassly underestimated.

From The Daily Beast

Early on, the sexual protagonist complains that her Molson-drinking husband is pretty much an incompetent Neanderthal.

From The Daily Beast

Detectives with a fugitive task force caught up with Polanco and a friend on a Bronx street in the early afternoon.

From The Daily Beast

The "new world" was really found in the wonder-years of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

From Project Gutenberg

When his lordship retired early, as was his custom, the other men adjourned once more to the billiard-room.

From Project Gutenberg

In the early stages of chronic nephritis, when diagnosis is difficult, it is usually normal.

From Project Gutenberg

He was in early life a shipcarpenter, and subsequently American consul at Antwerp.

From Project Gutenberg

Hamo in alluding to the early cultivation of tobacco by the colony, says, that John Rolfe was the pioneer tobacco planter.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• directly
• first
• promptly
• recently
• right away
• soon
• timely