# early

Pronunciation: say "UR-lee" US /ˈɜɹli/, UK /ˈɜːli/

## Adjective

1. Happening or belonging near the beginning of a period of time, a process, or a development, such as the first years of a career or the first stages of something.
   - Simple: Near the beginning of a period of time or of something that is happening.
   - _Early jazz recordings from the 1920s have a distinctive crackle._
   - _The painting dates from the early Renaissance, soon after the style emerged._
3. Taking place ahead of the usual or expected time for an event.
   - Simple: Happening before the usual or planned time for something.
   - _The government called an early election to settle the dispute._
   - _An early harvest this year meant the grapes were picked in August._
4. Occurring in the first hours of the day.
   - Simple: Belonging to the first hours of the morning.
   - _We caught an early flight and landed before lunch._
   - _The fishermen set out in the early hours, before sunrise._

## Adverb

2. Before the usual, expected, or arranged time; in good time.
   - Simple: Before the usual or planned time, or with plenty of time to spare.
   - _The meeting ended early, giving everyone a chance to grab lunch._
   - _They arrived early enough to find good seats near the stage._
6. In the first part of a period of time, an event, or a process, or in the opening stage of someone's life or career.
   - Simple: At or near the start of a time, an event, a process, or a person's life or work.
   - _Early in his career, he worked as a reporter for a small-town paper._
   - _Doctors say the disease is easiest to treat when it is caught early._

## Noun

5. A scheduled work shift that takes place early in the day. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A work shift that happens in the morning.
   - _I'm on an early tomorrow, so I need to be in bed by ten tonight._
   - _He hates doing earlies because he has to wake before dawn._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Of a star, belonging to the hotter spectral types (O, B and sometimes A), or to the hotter subtypes within a class, as in early K.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–5** — Formed like ere + -ly, the Old English adjective ǣrlīċ ("early") became Middle English erly.
**Meanings 2, 6** — From Middle English erly, from Old English ǣrlīċe ("early; early in the morning"), the adverb form, equivalent to "ere" plus "-ly." It is cognate with Old Norse árliga, árla, which gave Danish årle, Swedish arla, and Norwegian årle.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/early (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).