early
Something that's early happens right at the beginning of some specific time period, or before you expect it to happen. An early party guest shows up before the party starts.
An early riser gets up with the sun every morning, and you might eat an early dinner at five in the evening. If you're in your early twenties, you're closer to 20 than 30, while the early 20th century was the time period before 1950. If a baby comes early, she's born before her expected due date. The Old English source is ærlice, "early," which comes from ær, "soon" or "ere."
Definitions of early
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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”
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Synonyms:
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aboriginal, primaeval, primal, primeval, primordial
having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state
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advance, beforehand
being ahead of time or need
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archaean, archean
of or relating to the earliest known rocks formed during the Precambrian Eon
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archaeozoic, archeozoic
of or belonging to earlier of two divisions of the Precambrian era
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azoic
before the appearance of life
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earlier, earliest
(comparative and superlative of `early') more early than; most early
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earlyish
being somewhat early
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premature, untimely
uncommonly early or before the expected time
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premature, previous
too soon or too hasty
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proterozoic
formed in the later of two divisions of the Precambrian era
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proto
indicating the first or earliest or original
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wee
very early
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first
preceding all others in time or space or degree
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Antonyms:
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middle
between an earlier and a later period of time
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late
being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
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intervening
occurring or falling between events or points in time
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mid
used in combination to denote the middle
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advanced, ripe
far along in time
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after-hours
after closing time especially a legally established closing time
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latish
somewhat late
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posthumous
occurring or coming into existence after a person's death
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aboriginal, primaeval, primal, primeval, primordial
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being or occurring at an early stage of development“in an early stage”“early forms of life”“early man”“an early computer”
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Synonyms:
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archaic, primitive
little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type
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new, young
(of crops) harvested at an early stage of development; before complete maturity
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crude, primitive, rude
belonging to an early stage of technical development; characterized by simplicity and (often) crudeness
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embryonic, embryotic
in an early stage of development
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inchoate, incipient
only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
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precocious
appearing or developing early
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Antonyms:
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late, later
at or toward an end or late period or stage of development
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advanced
comparatively late in a course of development
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tardive
late-occurring (especially with reference to symptoms of a disease)
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archaic, primitive
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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”
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Synonyms:
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Old
of a very early stage in development
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Antonyms:
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middle
of a stage in the development of a language or literature between earlier and later stages
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late
of a later stage in the development of a language or literature; used especially of dead languages
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Modern, New
used of a living language; being the current stage in its development
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New
in use after medieval times
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Old
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belonging to the distant past
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expected in the near future“look for an early end to the negotiations”
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Synonyms:
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future
yet to be or coming
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future
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very young
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during an early stage“early on in her career”
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synonyms:
early on
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before the usual time or the time expected“she graduated early”
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synonyms:
ahead of time, too soon
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in good time
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synonyms:
betimes
Word Family
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