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:
Instead, she chose to train as a data analyst with the National Health Service, where she helped build machine-learning models for early cancer detection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, however, children will not return until early September.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
This explains why my brain reflexively associated Ritchson’s latest work in a movie classic cinema buffs would likely dismiss as trash, with one of the greatest performers of early 20th century cinema.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
The researchers found that the most massive galaxies in the early universe appear to contain a much greater share of low-mass stars than smaller galaxies such as the Milky Way.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
The smiling slender man in his early thirties, with his protruding ears, balding head, and minuscule glasses, gave an elaborate bow.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Mathys Tel: Early clever flick hinted at a threat, but was then anonymous.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Early on Wednesday, Moderna and Merck surprised investors when the two companies announced that their experimental therapeutic vaccine, which pairs Moderna’s intismeran autogene with Merck’s Keytruda, helped prevent the recurrence of melanoma in certain patients.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Early in 2025, I’d been thinking about the 20th anniversary of the show and how to celebrate it, but a movie is a huge project, one I was wary of committing to.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Early data from Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency indicates that more than 1,000 houses have been damaged, along with dozens of health facilities, schools and government offices.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Early in the morning, about six o’clock, the circumcision started.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
"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
Both countries were optimistic of a deal earlier in the week, but talks collapsed on Friday night after both sides accused the other of making last-minute changes.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
"Such a privilege to be racing here. Spectacular place," said Palou, who made a White House visit earlier this week.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Products already subject to tariffs under earlier national-security measures, including steel, aluminum, auto parts and lumber, won’t be hit by this latest round, the White House said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Publisher Max Lederer, who announced his retirement earlier this week after more than three decades at the publication, also received a separation notice.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026
I’m guessing they’re watching a video of what happened earlier.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
More than 450 million years ago, long before dinosaurs appeared and before animals or plants had spread widely across dry land, crinoids were already thriving in some of Earth's earliest coral reefs.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
The Cloverleaf deal helps cement Nvidia’s growing role in supporting the data-center ecosystem at the earliest stages of development.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The preserved tissues date back more than 450 million years, making them far older than the earliest dinosaurs.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Normally these organoids live for a few months, meaning they can only offer a window into the earliest stages of human brains, which take nearly 20 years to fully develop.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The record of the earliest art is lost to us.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
Definitions 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.
