Early

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈɜː(ɹ).li/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)li
• GenAm IPA: /ˈɝli/
• Hyphenation: ear + ly

Origin

From Middle English erly, erli, Old English ǣrlīce, from ǣr ("before, ere#English") + adverbial suffix -līce. Cognate with Old Norse árla ( >

Danish and Norwegian årle, Swedish arla, Faroese árla)

Full definition of early

Adjective

1. At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
• 2013-06-29, High and wet, 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.
2. at eleven, we went for an early lunch;  she began reading at an early age;  his mother suffered an early death
3. 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.
4. Near the start or beginning.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, '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.
• 2013-07-20, The attack of the MOOCs, 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.
5. The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.
   Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats.
6. Having begun to occur; in its early stages.
   early cancer

Synonyms

• at a time in advance of the usual: premature
• near the start: first

Antonyms

• at a time in advance of the usual: late
• illness: having began to occur: terminal

Derived terms

Adverb

1. At a time before expected; sooner than usual.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 4, No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
2. We finished the project an hour sooner than scheduled, so we left early.
3. Soon; in good time; seasonably.
• Bible, Proverbs viii. 17Those that seek me early shall find me.
• Alfred, Lord TennysonYou must wake and call me early.

Synonyms

• prematurely

Antonyms

• late, tardily

Noun

1. A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.
• 2007, Paul W. Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue (page 193)On my first day on the watch after leaving the shoplifting squad I paraded on earlies but had completely forgotten to take my ear ring off.

Anagrams

• layer
• relay, re-lay