early
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English erly, erli, Old English ǣrlīce, from ǣr (“before”) + adverbial suffix -līce. Cognate with Old Norse árla ( > Danish and Norwegian årle, Swedish arla)
[edit] Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA: /ˈɜː(ɹ).li/, SAMPA: /"3:(r).li/
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Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(r)li
- (GenAm) IPA: /ˈɝli/. SAMPA: /"3`li/
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Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: ear‧ly
[edit] Adjective
early (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.
- 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.
- Near the start or beginning.
- The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.
- Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Derived terms
Derived terms
[edit] Translations
at a time in advance of the usual
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arriving at a time before expected
near the start or beginning
[edit] Adverb
early (comparative earlier, superlative earliest)
- At a time before expected; sooner than usual.
- We finished the project an hour sooner than scheduled, so we left early.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Translations
at a time before expected
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[edit] Noun
early (plural earlies)
- A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.
- 2007, Paul W. Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue (page 193)
- 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)
[edit] Statistics
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Most common English words before 1923: arms · across · answer · #447: early · saying · talk · spirit