Meanings
early1
comparative earlier · superlative earliest
- 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
1 more example
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 28Synonyms: premature
- After but close to the start of a period of time.
The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.
4 more examples
Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats.
'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, →OCLCDotcom 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 8845It’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 TimesSynonyms: first
- In the starting hours of the day.
It's too early for this sort of thing. I'm not awake yet.
plural earlies
- informalA shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.
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.
2007, Paul W. Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue, page 193
early2
comparative earlier · superlative earliest
- At a time before expected; sooner than usual.
I had children too early (in life), so my first baby arrived early.
3 more examples
We finished the project an hour sooner than scheduled, so we left early.
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.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46While warmer springs cause the early spider orchid to flower earlier in May, climate warming is also causing female bees to emerge from hibernation even earlier – confounding the orchid’s attempts to dupe the male bees.
2018 April 5, Patrick Barkham, The Guardian - Soon; in good time; seasonably.
[T]thoſe that ſeeke me early, ſhall find me.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 8:17, column 11 more example
You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; / Tomorrow 'ill be the happiest time of all the blythe Newyear; […]
1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The May Queen”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza I, page 90
Early3
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAt a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
adjectiveArriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.
adjectiveAfter but close to the start of a period of time.
adjectiveOf a star or class of stars, hotter than the sun.
illness: having begun to occur
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveat or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
adjectivebeing or occurring at an early stage of development
adjectiveof an early stage in the development of a language or literature
adjectiveexpected in the near future
adverbduring an early stage
adverbin good time
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
early · adjective, noun
- Old Englishǣrlīċ“early”
- Middle Englisherly
- Englishearly
From Middle English erly, erlich, earlich, from Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective), equivalent to ere + -ly.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →early · adverb
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ey-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éyeri
- Proto-Germanic*airi
- Proto-Germanic*airiz
- Old Englishǣr
- Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
- Proto-Germanic*līką
- Old Englishǣrlīċe
- Middle Englisherly
- Englishearly
From Middle English erly, orely, arely, erliche, arliche, from Old English ǣrlīċe, ārlīċe (“early; early in the morning”, adverb), equivalent to ere + -ly. Cognate with Old Norse árliga, árla ( > Danish årle, Swedish arla, Norwegian årle, Faroese árla).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans vroeë
- vroeëat a time in advance of the usual
Ancient Greek πρῷος, πρωΐ
- πρῷος (prōîos)at a time in advance of the usual
- πρωΐ (prōḯ)at a time before expected
- ἦρι (êri)at a time before expected
Arabic بَاكِر, مُبَكِّرًا
- بَاكِر (bākir)at a time in advance of the usual
- مُبَكِّرًا (mubakkiran)at a time before expected
- بَاكِرًا (bākiran)at a time before expected
Basque goizik
- goizikat a time before expected
Bengali আশু
- আশু (aśu)at a time in advance of the usual
Bulgarian ра́нен, ранен
- ра́нен (ránen)at a time in advance of the usual
- ранен (ranen)arriving at a time before expected
- преждевременен (preždevremenen)arriving at a time before expected
- ра́но (ráno)at a time before expected
Catalan d'hora, aviat
- d'horaat a time in advance of the usual
- aviatat a time before expected
Chinese Cantonese 早
- 早 (zou²)at a time in advance of the usual
Chinese Mandarin 早, 早
- 早 (zǎo)at a time in advance of the usual
- 早 (zǎo)at a time before expected
Czech raný, časný
- ranýat a time in advance of the usual
- časnýat a time in advance of the usual
- brzyat a time before expected
- časněat a time before expected
Danish tidlig
- tidligat a time in advance of the usual
Dutch vroeg, voortijdig
- vroegat a time in advance of the usual
- voortijdigat a time in advance of the usual
- vroegarriving at a time before expected
Esperanto frua, frue
- fruaat a time in advance of the usual
- frueat a time before expected
Estonian varajane, vara
- varajaneat a time in advance of the usual
- varaarriving at a time before expected
- varaat a time before expected
Finnish varhainen, aikainen
- varhainenat a time in advance of the usual
- aikainenat a time in advance of the usual
- aikainenarriving at a time before expected
- ennenaikainenarriving at a time before expected
- varhainennear but after the start or beginning
- aikaisinat a time before expected
- varhainat a time before expected
- ajoissaat a time before expected
- hyvissä ajoinat a time before expected
French de bonne heure, tôt
- de bonne heureat a time in advance of the usual
- tôtat a time in advance of the usual
- en avanceat a time in advance of the usual
- en avancearriving at a time before expected
- anciennear but after the start or beginning
- tôtifnear but after the start or beginning
- précocenear but after the start or beginning
- premiernear but after the start or beginning
- précoceillness: having begun to occur
- tôtat a time before expected
- de bonne heureat a time before expected
- en avanceat a time before expected
German früh, verfrüht
- frühat a time in advance of the usual
- verfrühtat a time in advance of the usual
- frühzeitigat a time in advance of the usual
- früharriving at a time before expected
- verfrühtarriving at a time before expected
- frühnear but after the start or beginning
- frühat a time before expected
Greek πρώιμος, πρόωρος
- πρώιμος (próimos)at a time in advance of the usual
- πρόωρος (próoros)arriving at a time before expected
- πρώιμος (próimos)near but after the start or beginning
- πρώιμος (próimos)illness: having begun to occur
- νωρίς (norís)at a time before expected
Hebrew מֻקְדָּם, מֻקְדָּם
- מֻקְדָּם (mukdám)at a time in advance of the usual
- מֻקְדָּם (mukdám)at a time before expected
Hindi शीघ्र, सवेरा
- शीघ्र (śīghra)at a time in advance of the usual
- सवेरा (saverā)at a time in advance of the usual
- जल्दी (jaldī)at a time before expected
Hungarian korai, korán
- koraiat a time in advance of the usual
- koránat a time before expected
Icelandic snemma, snemma
- snemmaat a time in advance of the usual
- snemmaat a time before expected
Indonesian dini, pagi-pagi
- diniat a time in advance of the usual
- pagi-pagiat a time in advance of the usual
Irish luath, moch
- luathat a time in advance of the usual
- mochat a time in advance of the usual
- luatharriving at a time before expected
Italian presto, precoce
- prestoat a time in advance of the usual
- precoceat a time in advance of the usual
- anticipatoat a time in advance of the usual
- anticipataat a time in advance of the usual
- anticipoat a time in advance of the usual
- precocearriving at a time before expected
- primonear but after the start or beginning
- precoceillness: having begun to occur
- inizialeillness: having begun to occur
- prestoat a time before expected
Japanese 早い, 早い
- 早い (hayai)at a time in advance of the usual
- 早い (hayai)arriving at a time before expected
- 早い (hayai)near but after the start or beginning
- 初期の (shoki no)illness: having begun to occur
- 早期の (sōki no)illness: having begun to occur
- 早く (hayaku)at a time before expected
Korean 이르다, 빠르다
- 이르다 (ireuda)at a time in advance of the usual
- 빠르다 (ppareuda)at a time in advance of the usual
- 이르다 (ireuda)arriving at a time before expected
- 빠르다 (ppareuda)arriving at a time before expected
- 이르다 (ireuda)near but after the start or beginning
- 빠르다 (ppareuda)near but after the start or beginning
- 일찍 (iljjik)at a time before expected
- 빨리 (ppalli)at a time before expected
Latin mātūtīnus, praecox
- mātūtīnusat a time in advance of the usual
- praecoxat a time in advance of the usual
- prīmusnear but after the start or beginning
- mātūrēat a time before expected
- praemātūrēat a time before expected
Latvian agrs, agri
- agrsat a time in advance of the usual
- agriat a time before expected
Lithuanian ankstus, ankstyvas
- ankstusat a time in advance of the usual
- ankstyvasat a time in advance of the usual
- ankstiat a time before expected
Malay awal
- awalat a time before expected
Māori moata, tuata
- moataat a time in advance of the usual
- tuataat a time in advance of the usual
- moataarriving at a time before expected
- tuataarriving at a time before expected
Norwegian Bokmål tidlig, tidlig
- tidligat a time in advance of the usual
- tidligarriving at a time before expected
- tidlignear but after the start or beginning
Persian زود, زود
- زود (zud)at a time in advance of the usual
- زود (zud)at a time before expected
Polish wczesny, wczesny
- wczesnyat a time in advance of the usual
- wczesnyarriving at a time before expected
- wczesnynear but after the start or beginning
- początkowynear but after the start or beginning
- wcześnieat a time before expected
Portuguese precoce, cedo
- precoceat a time in advance of the usual
- cedoat a time in advance of the usual
- adiantadoarriving at a time before expected
- inicialnear but after the start or beginning
- inicialillness: having begun to occur
- precoceillness: having begun to occur
- cedoat a time before expected
Romanian devreme, timpuriu
- devremeat a time in advance of the usual
- timpuriuat a time in advance of the usual
- devremenear but after the start or beginning
- devremeat a time before expected
Russian ра́нний, ра́нний
- ра́нний (ránnij)at a time in advance of the usual
- ра́нний (ránnij)arriving at a time before expected
- ра́нний (ránnij)near but after the start or beginning
- ра́но (ráno)at a time before expected
Scottish Gaelic tràthail, tràthail
- tràthailat a time in advance of the usual
- tràthailarriving at a time before expected
Slovak raný, včasný
- ranýat a time in advance of the usual
- včasnýat a time in advance of the usual
- skoroat a time before expected
- čoskoroat a time before expected
- včasat a time before expected
- zavčasuat a time before expected
Spanish temprano, tempranero
- tempranoat a time in advance of the usual
- tempraneroat a time in advance of the usual
- tempranoarriving at a time before expected
- a comienzos derelating to a person's age, a decade, etc.
- a principio derelating to a person's age, a decade, etc.
- a comienzo derelating to a person's age, a decade, etc.
- tempranoillness: having begun to occur
- tempranoat a time before expected
Swahili mapema, mapema
- mapemaat a time in advance of the usual
- mapemaarriving at a time before expected
- mapemanear but after the start or beginning
- mapemaat a time before expected
Swedish tidig, arla
- tidigat a time in advance of the usual
- arlaat a time in advance of the usual
- tidigarriving at a time before expected
- tidignear but after the start or beginning
- tidigtat a time before expected
Thai เร็ว, เนิ่น
- เร็ว (reo)at a time in advance of the usual
- เนิ่น (nə̂ən)at a time in advance of the usual
- เช้า (cháao)at a time in advance of the usual
- แต่วัน (dtàe wan)at a time before expected
Turkish erken, erken
- erkenat a time in advance of the usual
- erkenarriving at a time before expected
- erkennear but after the start or beginning
- erkenat a time before expected
Ukrainian ра́нній, завча́сний
- ра́нній (ránnij)at a time in advance of the usual
- завча́сний (zavčásnyj)at a time in advance of the usual
- ра́но (ráno)at a time before expected
- завча́сно (zavčásno)at a time before expected
Urdu سویرا, جلدی
- سویرا (savera)at a time in advance of the usual
- جلدی (jaldī)at a time before expected
Vietnamese sớm, ban đầu
- sớmat a time in advance of the usual
- ban đầuat a time in advance of the usual
- đầu mùaat a time in advance of the usual
- sớmat a time before expected
Welsh yn fore, cynnar
- yn foreat a time in advance of the usual
- cynnarat a time in advance of the usual
- cynnarat a time before expected
- plygeinwaithat a time before expected
Yiddish באַלדיק, פֿרי
- באַלדיק (baldik)at a time in advance of the usual
- פֿרי (fri)at a time before expected
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with early
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
early. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/early
“early.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/early. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “early,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/early.
Source: early on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.