early en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈɜːli/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- audio
- /ˈɝli/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ɚ̞li/ (Canada, General-American)
- audio
Etymology
From Middle English erly, erlich, earlich, from Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective), equivalent to ere + -ly.
Meanings
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At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:at eleven, we went for an early lunch; she began reading at an early age; his mother suffered an early death
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Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.
You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine o'clock.
The early guests sipped their punch and avoided each other's eyes.
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After but close to the start of a period of time.
'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.
1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:It’s one of the earliest pieces in the comprehensive collection of metronomes by the British instrument dealer Tony Bingham, which forms the bulk of the Basel exhibition.
2017 June 30, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, “Ticktock as Taskmaster: A Show About Metronomes and Musical Time”, in The New York Times:The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.
Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.
2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats.
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In the starting hours of the day.
It's too early for this sort of thing. I'm not awake yet.
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Having begun to occur; in its early stages.
early cancer
harvesting early peaches
- Of a star or class of stars, hotter than the sun.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| earlier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| earliest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
late · middle · terminal (illness: having begun to occur) · mid · late (at a time in advance of the usual)
Deriveds
early purple orchid · early position · early childhood · early bird special · Early Latin · early warning system · early shower · early door · early retiree · it's early days · early withdrawal · early vote · early saxifrage · early queening · early-day motion · early Helladic · get up early · like turkeys voting for an early Christmas · early spider orchid · nice and early · early infantile autism · earliness · early music · early bloomer · Early Assamese · twirly · early and late · early closing · early blight · early return · Early Modern Czech · early night · early winter cress · early innings · early-warning · early-bound · early days · early doors · early grave · the early bird gets the worm · early-to-bedder · early bells · early spring orchis · earlywood · early syphilis · ultraearly · early retirement · earlycomer · early bright · early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise · early Showa · early riser · early-to-mid · call it an early night · early Shōwa · early voting · early retirement pensioner · early binding · early childhood education · early fetal demise · small and early · earlyish · early crow · early modern · an early age · the early bird catches the worm · early bath · Early Proto-Indo-European · early mark · early reader · early day motion · early life check · Early Tripuri · early time · early-type star · pseudoearly · early voter · European early modern human · early bird · early on · nonearly · early adopter · early-purple orchid · be a hundred years too early · early warning radar · early lifer
Hyponyms
Relateds
Synonyms
early doors · premature (at a time in advance of the usual) · new (ripening before other) · early · first (near but after the start)
Translations (219)
ug بالدۇر (near but after the start or beginning) · hy վաղ (at a time in advance of the usual) · sk raný (at a time in advance of the usual) · ckb زوو (arriving at a time before expected) · ba иртә (arriving at a time before expected) · fr en avance (arriving at a time before expected) · ca d'hora (at a time in advance of the usual) · vo gölik (arriving at a time before expected) · gd tràthail (arriving at a time before expected) · cs raný (at a time in advance of the usual) · es temprano (illness: having begun to occur) · fr tôtif (near but after the start or beginning) · ru ра́нний (near but after the start or beginning) · kw a-brys (at a time in advance of the usual) · rup timpuriu (at a time in advance of the usual) · mba sayo (at a time in advance of the usual) · gl cedo (at a time in advance of the usual) · ru ра́нний (arriving at a time before expected) · bcl atab (at a time in advance of the usual) · id pagi-pagi (at a time in advance of the usual) · tk irki (at a time in advance of the usual) · rm baud (at a time in advance of the usual) · pl początkowy (near but after the start or beginning) · es a comienzo de (relating to a person's age, a decade, etc.) · ar بَاكِر (at a time in advance of the usual) · pt inicial (illness: having begun to occur) · gl temperán (at a time in advance of the usual) · he מֻקְדָּם (at a time in advance of the usual) · it iniziale (illness: having begun to occur) · ga luath (arriving at a time before expected) · fi varhainen (at a time in advance of the usual) · clt patang (at a time in advance of the usual) · it primo (near but after the start or beginning) · de verfrüht (arriving at a time before expected) · ary بكري (at a time in advance of the usual) · be ра́нні (at a time in advance of the usual) · izh aikahiin (at a time in advance of the usual) · sv arla (at a time in advance of the usual) · ga luath (at a time in advance of the usual) · eo frua (at a time in advance of the usual) · el πρώιμος (illness: having begun to occur) · it precoce (at a time in advance of the usual) · hi सवेरा (at a time in advance of the usual) · sw mapema (arriving at a time before expected) · zza rew (diq) (at a time in advance of the usual) · af vroeë (at a time in advance of the usual) · bcl amay (at a time in advance of the usual) · pt adiantado (arriving at a time before expected) · mn эрт (at a time in advance of the usual) · vi sớm (at a time in advance of the usual) · ang hræd (at a time in advance of the usual) · ja 初期の (illness: having begun to occur) · mi tuata (at a time in advance of the usual) · ltg agreims (at a time in advance of the usual) · fr premier (near but after the start or beginning) · ko 빠르다 (at a time in advance of the usual) · sq i hershëm (at a time in advance of the usual) · non snemma (at a time in advance of the usual) · ang hræd (arriving at a time before expected) · lb fréi (at a time in advance of the usual) · ka ადრე (at a time in advance of the usual) · ga moch (at a time in advance of the usual) · fi aikainen (at a time in advance of the usual) · it anticipo (at a time in advance of the usual) · ko 빠르다 (near but after the start or beginning) · br abred (at a time in advance of the usual) · ceb sayo (at a time in advance of the usual) · es temprano (at a time in advance of the usual) · kk ерте (at a time in advance of the usual) · sv tidig (near but after the start or beginning) · ja 早い (near but after the start or beginning) · tk ir (at a time in advance of the usual) · de früh (at a time in advance of the usual) · da tidlig (at a time in advance of the usual) · ky эрте (at a time in advance of the usual) · km មុនម៉ោង (at a time in advance of the usual) · el πρώιμος (at a time in advance of the usual) · ba иртә (at a time in advance of the usual) · la mātūtīnus (at a time in advance of the usual) · pms primeiro (near but after the start or beginning) · el πρόωρος (arriving at a time before expected) · gl cedo (arriving at a time before expected) · it precoce (illness: having begun to occur) · hsb zažny (at a time in advance of the usual) · nl vroeg (arriving at a time before expected) · mnc ᡝᡵᡩᡝ (at a time in advance of the usual) · bg ра́нен (at a time in advance of the usual) · gsw früe (at a time in advance of the usual) · hy շուտ (arriving at a time before expected) · la prīmus (near but after the start or beginning) · th เนิ่น (at a time in advance of the usual) · ka ადრეული (at a time in advance of the usual) · nl voortijdig (at a time in advance of the usual) · mt kmieni (at a time in advance of the usual) · hy վաղ (arriving at a time before expected) · mk ран (at a time in advance of the usual) · sh rani (at a time in advance of the usual) · cmn 早 (at a time in advance of the usual) · it anticipata (at a time in advance of the usual) · it precoce (arriving at a time before expected) · gu વહેલું (at a time in advance of the usual) · ang hræd (near but after the start or beginning) · yi באַלדיק (at a time in advance of the usual) · nb tidlig (at a time in advance of the usual) · es a comienzos de (relating to a person's age, a decade, etc.) · fo tíðliga (at a time in advance of the usual) · grc πρῷος (at a time in advance of the usual) · kaw isuk (at a time in advance of the usual) · nl vroeg (at a time in advance of the usual) · uk завча́сний (at a time in advance of the usual) · de früh (arriving at a time before expected) · th เร็ว (at a time in advance of the usual) · my စော (at a time in advance of the usual) · mi tuata (arriving at a time before expected) · is snemma (at a time in advance of the usual) · ja 早い (at a time in advance of the usual) · hsb zažny (arriving at a time before expected) · fy ier (at a time in advance of the usual) · ko 이르다 (at a time in advance of the usual) · mi moata (arriving at a time before expected) · et vara (arriving at a time before expected) · fr ancien (near but after the start or beginning) · fi varhainen (near but after the start or beginning) · lo ເຊົ້າ (at a time in advance of the usual) · ota اركن (at a time in advance of the usual) · ja 早い (arriving at a time before expected) · kw a-bres (at a time in advance of the usual) · fi aikainen (arriving at a time before expected) · de verfrüht (at a time in advance of the usual) · pl wczesny (near but after the start or beginning) · cy yn fore (at a time in advance of the usual) · fr tôt (at a time in advance of the usual) · es tempranero (at a time in advance of the usual) · ko 빠르다 (arriving at a time before expected) · it anticipato (at a time in advance of the usual) · sk včasný (at a time in advance of the usual) · de früh (near but after the start or beginning) · lld bunerif (at a time in advance of the usual) · ro devreme (at a time in advance of the usual) · hy շուտ (at a time in advance of the usual) · cy cynnar (at a time in advance of the usual) · sl zgoden (at a time in advance of the usual) · nb tidlig (near but after the start or beginning) · tr erken (at a time in advance of the usual) · fr de bonne heure (at a time in advance of the usual) · fr précoce (illness: having begun to occur) · fa زود (at a time in advance of the usual) · as আগতীয়াকৈ (at a time in advance of the usual) · ug بالدۇر (arriving at a time before expected) · ko 이르다 (arriving at a time before expected) · ko 이르다 (near but after the start or beginning) · bn আশু (at a time in advance of the usual) · ru ра́нний (at a time in advance of the usual) · frr eeđer (at a time in advance of the usual) · ckb زوو (at a time in advance of the usual) · es temprano (arriving at a time before expected) · uk ра́нній (at a time in advance of the usual) · sv tidig (at a time in advance of the usual) · sah эрдэ (at a time in advance of the usual) · sw mapema (at a time in advance of the usual) · ltg agrejs (at a time in advance of the usual) · pt cedo (at a time in advance of the usual) · sv tidig (arriving at a time before expected) · la praecox (at a time in advance of the usual) · hu korai (at a time in advance of the usual) · gd tràthail (at a time in advance of the usual) · az erkən (at a time in advance of the usual) · pt precoce (at a time in advance of the usual) · ro timpuriu (at a time in advance of the usual) · el πρώιμος (near but after the start or beginning) · ltg agrys (at a time in advance of the usual) · et varajane (at a time in advance of the usual) · pt inicial (near but after the start or beginning) · pl wczesny (at a time in advance of the usual) · oc d'ora (at a time in advance of the usual) · ur سویرا (at a time in advance of the usual) · tr erken (arriving at a time before expected) · vi ban đầu (at a time in advance of the usual) · fi ennenaikainen (arriving at a time before expected) · ug بالدۇر (at a time in advance of the usual) · as সোনকালে (at a time in advance of the usual) · arz بدري (at a time in advance of the usual) · ast tempranu (at a time in advance of the usual) · sw mapema (near but after the start or beginning) · bg преждевременен (arriving at a time before expected) · eve бадь (at a time in advance of the usual) · crh erte (at a time in advance of the usual) · non snemt (at a time in advance of the usual) · lt ankstus (at a time in advance of the usual) · vi đầu mùa (at a time in advance of the usual) · pt precoce (illness: having begun to occur) · de frühzeitig (at a time in advance of the usual) · lv agrs (at a time in advance of the usual) · mt bikri (at a time in advance of the usual) · ota اركن (near but after the start or beginning) · vo gölik (at a time in advance of the usual) · pl wczesny (arriving at a time before expected) · cs časný (at a time in advance of the usual) · bg ранен (arriving at a time before expected) · uz erta (at a time in advance of the usual) · ro devreme (near but after the start or beginning) · sh рани (at a time in advance of the usual) · lt ankstyvas (at a time in advance of the usual) · ota اركن (arriving at a time before expected) · vo gölik (near but after the start or beginning) · id dini (at a time in advance of the usual) · fr en avance (at a time in advance of the usual) · mn эртний (at a time in advance of the usual) · tr erken (near but after the start or beginning) · fr précoce (near but after the start or beginning) · ja 早期の (illness: having begun to occur) · nb tidlig (arriving at a time before expected) · mi moata (at a time in advance of the usual) · es a principio de (relating to a person's age, a decade, etc.) · tg барвақт (at a time in advance of the usual) · yue 早 (at a time in advance of the usual) · th เช้า (at a time in advance of the usual) · it presto (at a time in advance of the usual) · hi शीघ्र (at a time in advance of the usual)