Dictionary Definition
early adj
1 at or near the beginning of a period of time or
course of events or before the usual or expected time; "early
morning"; "an early warning"; "early diagnosis"; "an early death";
"took early retirement"; "an early spring"; "early varieties of
peas and tomatoes mature before most standard varieties" [ant:
middle, late]
2 being or occurring at an early stage of
development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early
man"; "an early computer" [ant: late]
3 of the distant past; "the early inhabitants of
Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times" [syn: early(a), former(a),
other(a)]
4 very young; "at an early age"
5 of an early stage in the development of a
language or literature; "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is
that used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C."; "Early
Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to
1700" [ant: middle,
late]
6 expected in the near future; "look for an early
end to the negotiations" adv
1 during an early stage; "early on in her career"
[syn: early
on]
2 before the usual time or the time expected;
"she graduated early"; "the house was completed ahead of time"
[syn: ahead of
time, too soon] [ant:
late]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Adjective
- At a time in advance of the usual or expected
event.
- At eleven, we went for an early lunch.
- She began reading at an early age.
- His mother suffered an early death.
- She began reading at an early age.
- At eleven, we went for an early lunch.
- 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.
- You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine
o'clock.
- Near the start or
beginning.
- ''The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.
Synonyms
- : premature
- italbrac near the start: first
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
at a time in advance of the usual
arriving at a time before expected
near the start or beginning
Adverb
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
at a time before expected
- Basque: goizik
- Breton: abred
- Bulgarian: ранен
- Chinese: 早 (zǎo)
- Czech: brzy
- Esperanto: frue
- Finnish: aikaisin, varhain, ajoissa, hyvissä ajoin
- French: tôt
- Greek: νωρίς
- Hittite: karú
- Hungarian: korán
- Icelandic: snemma
- Ido: frue
- Italian: presto
- Japanese: 早く (はやく, hayaku)
- Korean: 일찍 (iljjik), 빨리 (ppalli)
- Polish: wcześnie
- Portuguese: cedo
- Russian: рано
- Serbian: rano (comparative ranije, superlative najranije)
- Slovak: skorý
- Slovene: zgodaj
- Spanish: temprano
- Swedish: tidigt
- Turkish: erken
- Welsh: cynnar
Extensive Definition
Early may refer to:
History
- the beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to Middle or Late periods.
- eg: Early modern Europe
People:
- Gerald Early, writer, culture critic and professor
- James M. Early, electrical engineer for whom the Early effect was named
- Joseph Early, congressman from Massachusetts
- Jubal Anderson Early, American Civil War general
Popular culture:
- Jubal Early a fictional bounty hunter from the television series Firefly
Other uses:
- Early Records, a record label
- Early effect, an effect in transistor physics
early in German: Early
early in Dutch: Early
early in Polish: Early
early in Volapük: Early
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
a priori, advanced, ages ago, ahead, ahead of time, already, anachronistic, ancient, anciently, antecedent, antedated, antediluvian, anterior, anticipative, anticipatory, antiquated, antique, away back, back, backward, before, before all, beforehand, beforetime, beginning, behind time,
behindhand, betimes, bright and early,
ci-devant, dated, earlier, elder, ere, ere then, erenow, erstwhile, ex post facto,
first, fore, foredated, foregoing, forehand, forehanded, foresighted, foresightedly, former, formerly, heretofore, hitherto, immemorial, in advance, in
ancient times, in anticipation, in good time, in olden times, in
times past, inappropriate, initial, initially, inopportune, into the past,
late, long ago, long since,
metachronistic,
misdated, mistimed, of old, of yore,
old, olden, older, once, onetime, or ever, original, originally, out of date, out
of season, overdue,
oversoon, parachronistic, past, past due, pioneer, postdated, preceding, precipitant, precocious, precociously, precurrent, preexistent, prehistoric, premature, prematurely, prevenient, previous, previously, primal, prime, primeval, primitive, primordial, prior, priorly, pristine, prochronistic, quondam, recent, retroactive, retrospective, seasonably, senior, some time ago, some time
back, sometime,
soon, tardy, then, theretofore, timely, unanticipated, unexpected, unpunctual, unseasonable, untimely, years ago, yet