early

[ ur-lee ]
/ ˈɜr li /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR early ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb, ear·li·er, ear·li·est.

adjective, ear·li·er, ear·li·est.

noun, plural ear·lies.

a fruit or vegetable that appears before most others of its type.

Idioms for early

    early on, with but little time elapsed; early in the course of a process, project, etc.; early in the game.

Origin of early

before 950; Middle English erlich (adj.), erliche (adv.), Old English ǣrlīc, ǣrlīce, mutated variant of ārlīc, ārlīce, equivalent to ār- early (positive of ǣr ere) + līc(e) -ly

OTHER WORDS FROM early

ear·li·ness, noun

Words nearby early

earless seal, earlier han, earlobe, earlock, earlship, early, early adopter, early american, early bird, early bird catches the worm, early blight

Words related to early on

immature, untimely, incomplete, undue, improper, premature, unfortunate, ill-timed, abortive, embryonic, forward, green, inopportune, precipitate, previous, raw, soon, undeveloped, unripe, unanticipated

British Dictionary definitions for early on

early
/ (ˈɜːlɪ) /

adjective -lier or -liest

adverb -lier

before the expected or usual time
near the first part of a period or sequence I was talking to him earlier

Derived forms of early

earliness, noun

Word Origin for early

Old English ǣrlīce, from ǣr ere + -līce -ly ²; related to Old Norse arliga

Idioms and Phrases with early on (1 of 2)

early on

At an early stage in a process or course of events, as in He started using computers very early on. [1920s]

Idioms and Phrases with early on (2 of 2)

early