Definition of Early

Adjective: early (earlier,earliest)  ur-lee

  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"
     
  2. Being or occurring at an early stage of development
    "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer"
     
  3. Belonging to the distant past
    "the early inhabitants of Europe";
    - former, other
     
  4. Very young
    "at an early age"
     
  5. (linguistics) 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"
     
  6. Expected in the near future
    "look for an early end to the negotiations"
Adverb: early  ur-lee
  1. During an early stage
    "early on in her career";
    - early on
     
  2. Before the usual time or the time expected
    "she graduated early";
    - ahead of time, too soon
     
  3. In good time
    "he awoke early that morning";
    - betimes

See also:
earlships
earlyish

Anagrams containing the word early

elayr yearl lyear rlyea arlye