Early Definition
ûrlē
earlier, earliest
adjective
earlier, earliest
Of or occurring near the beginning of a given series, period of time, or course of events.
In the early morning; scored two runs in the early innings.
American Heritage
Of or belonging to a previous or remote period of time.
The early inhabitants of the British Isles.
American Heritage
Of or belonging to an initial stage of development.
An early form of life; an early computer.
American Heritage
Occurring, developing, or appearing before the expected or usual time.
An early spring; an early retirement.
American Heritage
Maturing or developing relatively soon.
An early variety of tomato.
American Heritage
adverb
Near the beginning of a given period of time or of a series, as of events; soon after the start.
Webster's New World
At or near the beginning of the morning.
She never used to get up so early.
American Heritage
At or during a remote or initial period.
Decided very early to go into medicine.
American Heritage
In the far distant past; in ancient or remote times.
Webster's New World
Before the expected or customary time.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
noun
A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.
Wiktionary
idiom
early on
- At an early stage or point:
Early on in the movie, the main character loses his job.
American Heritage
early on
- at an early stage; near the beginning
Webster's New World
Origin of Early
From Middle English erly, erli, Old English ǣrlīce, from ǣr (“before, ere”) + adverbial suffix -līce. Cognate with Old Norse árla (> Danish and Norwegian årle, Swedish arla, Faroese árla)
From Wiktionary
-
Middle English erli from Old English ǣrlīce ǣr before ayer- in Indo-European roots -līce adv. suff. –ly2
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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