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:
She said the aim was to establish some early findings in the New Year.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The researchers say future studies should examine fossil deposits from a wider range of locations, environments, and preservation conditions in the search for evidence of early animals.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
A June order set up a voluntary system for developers to give the government up to 30 days of early access to their most powerful models.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
For those who would rather not wait that long to read newer comics, Ultimate-tier members will be able to access new issues as early as a month after its print release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Maybe because of the way they taste the berries are rarely eaten by game early in the fall when they come ripe.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Early communities may contain relatively harmless bacteria, while more complex communities can eventually include species strongly associated with gum disease.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Early in the Minnesota Vikings’ 15-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins, Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson appeared to be shoved into Hill, who was knocked to the ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Early excitement surrounding Meta’s artificial-intelligence assistant Muse has sent the stock higher — but Wells Fargo sees even bigger gains ahead.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Early in the campaign, she said, El-Sayed tended to speak broadly about people of color.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
Early Tuesday morning, before the first bell rang, Jake headed to homeroom.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" 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
The researchers hope that interfering with bacterial communication could make it possible to guide plaque toward an earlier, healthier state rather than attempting to eliminate the entire microbial population.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Nathan Hochman’s handling of the case, objecting to the statements his office released earlier this year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
The governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, said earlier in the week that specialists had carried out extensive laboratory analyses of the woman’s body which found no “microorganisms connected to her professional activities.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
It follows a BBC investigation earlier this year which revealed that law firms and advisers were helping migrants pose as gay in an effort to get asylum.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
“I meant to ask you about this earlier today, but I received a very strange message from your mother last night.”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
The walls of what is thought to be one of medieval England's earliest and largest leprosy hospitals have been uncovered in Lincoln by Time Team archaeologists.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
His efforts, which he published under the name Football Leaks, offered some of the earliest insights into City’s operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
That reconstruction offers a glimpse into the genetic makeup of one of the earliest flying mammals and creates a new resource for studying how bats developed their exceptional diversity.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
OpenAI has delayed its own Wall Street debut till next year at the earliest, as Anthropic aims for November.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Even the earliest readers of Origin were aware of the book’s far-reaching implications.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
