early (HyperDic hyper-dictionary)

English > 9 senses of the word *early*:
ADJECTIVE	all	early	at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
all	early	being or occurring at an early stage / stage of development
all	early, former, other	belonging to the distant past
all	early	very young
all	early	of an early stage in the development of a language or literature
all	early	expected in the near future
ADVERB	all	early, early on	during an early stage
all	early, ahead of time, too soon	before the usual time or the time expected
all	early, betimes	in good time

early > pronunciation
Sounds	er'liy
Rhymes	ably ... zealously: 1543 rhymes with liy...

English > *early*: 9 senses > adjective 1
Meaning	At or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time.
Examples	"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"
Attribute of	timing	The time when something happens
Narrower	aboriginal, primal, primeval, primaeval, primordial	Having existed from the beginning
	advance, beforehand	ahead of time or need
	archean, archaean	Of or relating to the earliest known rocks formed during the Precambrian Eon
	archeozoic, archaeozoic	Of or belonging to earlier of two divisions of the Precambrian era
	azoic	Before the appearance of life
	earlier, earliest	(comparative and superlative of 'early') more early than
	earlyish	Somewhat early
	premature, untimely	uncommonly early or before the expected time
	previous, premature	too soon or too hasty / hasty
	proterozoic	formed in the later of two divisions of the Precambrian era
	proto	Indicating the first or earliest or original
	wee	Very early
See also	first	preceding all others in time or space or degree
Opposite	late	Being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
Opposite	middle	Between an earlier and a later period of time
Spanish	prematuro, temprano
Catalan	d'hora
Nouns	earliness	quality of coming early or earlier in time

English > *early*: 9 senses > adjective 2
Meaning	Being or occurring at an early stage / stage of development.
Examples	"in an early stage" "early forms of life" "early man" "an early computer"
Narrower	archaic, primitive	Little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type
	crude, primitive, rude	Belonging to an early stage / stage of technical development
	embryonic, embryotic	In an early stage of development
	incipient, inchoate	Only partly in existence
	new, young	(of crops / crops) harvested at an early stage / stage of development
	precocious	Appearing or developing early
Opposite	late, later	At or toward an end or late period or stage of development
Spanish	temprano
Nouns	earliness	quality of coming early or earlier in time

English > *early*: 9 senses > adjective 3
Meaning	Belonging to the distant past.
Example	"the early inhabitants of Europe"
Synonyms	former, other
Broader	past	Earlier than the present time

English > *early*: 9 senses > adjective 4
Meaning	Very young.
Example	"at an early age"
Broader	young, immature	(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
Spanish	temprano

English > *early*: 9 senses > adjective 5
Meaning	Of an early stage in the development of a language or literature.
Examples	"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"
Category	linguistics	The scientific study of language
Narrower	Old	Of a very early stage / stage in development
Opposite	late	Of a later stage / stage in the development of a language or literature
Opposite	middle	Of a stage / stage in the development of a language or literature between earlier and later stages
Spanish	temprano
Nouns	earliness	quality of coming early or earlier in time

English > *early*: 9 senses > adjective 6
Meaning	Expected in the near future.
Example	"look for an early end to the negotiations"
Broader	future	yet to be or coming

English > *early*: 9 senses > adverb 2
Meaning	Before the usual time or the time expected.
Example	"she graduated early"
Synonyms	ahead of time, too soon
Opposite	late, belatedly, tardily	Later than usual or than expected
Spanish	temprano
Catalan	abans d'hora

HyperDic: early