1. earlier, earliest, early (vs. middle) (vs. late)
usage: (comparative and superlative of `early') more early than; most early; "a fashion popular in earlier times"; "his earlier work reflects the influence of his teacher"; "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera"
Adjective
1. earlier, earliest, early (vs. middle) (vs. late)
usage: 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"
usage: belonging to the distant past; "the early inhabitants of Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times"
4. early(prenominal), former(prenominal), other(prenominal), past (vs. present) (vs. future)
usage: very young; "at an early age"
5. early, young (vs. old), immature
usage: 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"
6. early (vs. middle) (vs. late), Old
usage: expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the negotiations"
Adverb
1. earlier, before
usage: earlier in time; previously; "I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier"; "her parents had died four years earlier"; "I mentioned that problem earlier"
2. sooner, earlier
usage: comparatives of `soon' or `early'; "Come a little sooner, if you can"; "came earlier than I expected"
3. in the first place, earlier, in the beginning, to begin with, originally
usage: before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?"