early (adj.)

  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. 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'

    early (adv.)

  1. during an early stage; early on in her career

    [ Syn: early on , early on , early on , early on , early on , early on , early on , early on ]

  2. before the usual time or the time expected; she graduated early; the house was completed ahead of time

    [ Syn: ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , too soon , too soon , too soon , too soon , ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , too soon , too soon , too soon , too soon , ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , too soon , too soon , too soon , too soon , ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , ahead of time , too soon , too soon , too soon , too soon ]

  3. in good time; he awoke betimes that morning

    [ Syn: betimes , betimes , betimes , betimes , betimes , betimes , betimes , betimes ]

    early (adj.)

  1. belonging to the distant past; the early inhabitants of Europe; former generations; in other times

    [ Syn: former , other ]

  2. very young; at an early age'

  3. expected in the near future; look for an early end to the negotiations'

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.