Early — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time

being or occurring at an early stage of development

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/ˈɛndoʊsˌɪst/

🇬🇧British English

/ˈɜːlɪ/

🇮🇳Indian English

/ˈɜːlɪ/

2 syllables Say it as /ˈɛndoʊsˌɪst/.

Examples

early morning
an early warning
early diagnosis

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

other too soon former betimes ahead of time early on

Antonyms

late middle

Parts of Speech

adjective	at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time “early morning”
adjective	being or occurring at an early stage of development “in an early stage”
adjective	belonging to the distant past “the early inhabitants of Europe”
adjective	very young “at an early age”
adjective	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.”
adjective	expected in the near future “look for an early end to the negotiations”
adverb	during an early stage “early on in her career”
adverb	before the usual time or the time expected “she graduated early”
adverb	in good time “he awoke betimes that morning”

Word Forms

earliness

noun

quality of coming early or earlier in time

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

früh

am oder nahe dem Beginn eines Zeitraums oder Ablaufs von Ereignissen oder vor dem üblichen oder erwarteten Zeitpunkt

🇫🇷French

tôt

au début ou à proximité du début d'une période ou d'un cours d'événements ou avant l'heure habituelle ou prévue

🇪🇸Spanish

temprano

en o cerca del comienzo de un período de tiempo o curso de eventos o antes del tiempo habitual o esperado

🇮🇹Italian

Presto

all'inizio o in prossimità di un periodo di tempo o di un corso di eventi o prima dell'orario abituale o previsto

🇳🇱Dutch

vroeg

op of nabij het begin van een periode of verloop van gebeurtenissen of vóór het gebruikelijke of verwachte tijdstip

🇵🇹Portuguese

cedo

no início ou próximo ao início de um período de tempo ou curso de eventos ou antes do horário habitual ou esperado

🇷🇺Russian

рано

в начале или вблизи начала периода времени или хода событий или раньше обычного или ожидаемого времени

India

🇮🇳Hindi

जल्दी

किसी समयावधि या घटनाओं के क्रम की शुरुआत में या उसके निकट या सामान्य या अपेक्षित समय से पहले

🇧🇩Bengali

তাড়াতাড়ি

সময় বা ঘটনার সময়কালের শুরুতে বা কাছাকাছি বা স্বাভাবিক বা প্রত্যাশিত সময়ের আগে

🇮🇳Tamil

ஆரம்ப

ஒரு காலம் அல்லது நிகழ்வுகளின் தொடக்கத்தில் அல்லது அதற்கு அருகில் அல்லது வழக்கமான அல்லது எதிர்பார்க்கப்படும் நேரத்திற்கு முன்

🇮🇳Telugu

ప్రారంభ

సమయ వ్యవధి లేదా ఈవెంట్‌ల కోర్సు ప్రారంభంలో లేదా సమీపంలో లేదా సాధారణ లేదా ఊహించిన సమయానికి ముందు

🇮🇳Marathi

लवकर

कालावधी किंवा कार्यक्रमाच्या सुरूवातीस किंवा जवळ किंवा नेहमीच्या किंवा अपेक्षित वेळेपूर्वी

🇮🇳Gujarati

વહેલું

સમયના સમયગાળા અથવા ઇવેન્ટના કોર્સની શરૂઆતમાં અથવા તેની નજીક અથવા સામાન્ય અથવા અપેક્ષિત સમય પહેલાં

🇮🇳Kannada

ಆರಂಭಿಕ

ಸಮಯ ಅಥವಾ ಘಟನೆಗಳ ಅವಧಿಯ ಆರಂಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಥವಾ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಥವಾ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಅಥವಾ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಿತ ಸಮಯಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಮೊದಲು

🇮🇳Malayalam

നേരത്തെ

ഒരു കാലഘട്ടത്തിൻ്റെയോ സംഭവങ്ങളുടെ ഗതിയുടെയോ തുടക്കത്തിലോ അതിനടുത്തോ അല്ലെങ്കിൽ സാധാരണ അല്ലെങ്കിൽ പ്രതീക്ഷിച്ച സമയത്തിന് മുമ്പോ

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਛੇਤੀ

ਸਮੇਂ ਦੀ ਮਿਆਦ ਜਾਂ ਘਟਨਾਵਾਂ ਦੇ ਕੋਰਸ ਦੀ ਸ਼ੁਰੂਆਤ 'ਤੇ ਜਾਂ ਨੇੜੇ ਜਾਂ ਆਮ ਜਾਂ ਉਮੀਦ ਕੀਤੇ ਸਮੇਂ ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ

🇵🇰Urdu

جلد

وقت کی مدت یا واقعات کے کورس کے آغاز پر یا اس کے قریب یا معمول یا متوقع وقت سے پہلے

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

早期的

在一段时间或事件过程开始时或接近开始时或在通常或预期时间之前

🇯🇵Japanese

早い

期間や出来事の経過の開始時またはその近く、または通常の時間または予想される時間の前

🇰🇷Korean

일찍

일정 기간이나 사건 과정이 시작되는 시점이나 그 근처, 평소 또는 예상되는 시간 이전

🇻🇳Vietnamese

sớm

tại hoặc gần thời điểm bắt đầu của một khoảng thời gian hoặc diễn biến của các sự kiện hoặc trước thời điểm thông thường hoặc dự kiến

🇹🇭Thai

แต่แรก

ณ หรือใกล้จุดเริ่มต้นของช่วงเวลาหรือเหตุการณ์หรือก่อนเวลาปกติหรือที่คาดไว้

🇮🇩Indonesian

lebih awal

pada atau dekat awal suatu periode waktu atau jalannya peristiwa atau sebelum waktu yang biasa atau waktu yang diperkirakan

🇵🇭Filipino

maaga

sa o malapit sa simula ng isang yugto ng panahon o takbo ng mga pangyayari o bago ang karaniwan o inaasahang oras

🇲🇾Malay

awal

pada atau berhampiran permulaan sesuatu tempoh masa atau perjalanan peristiwa atau sebelum masa biasa atau jangkaan

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

مبكر

عند أو بالقرب من بداية فترة زمنية أو مسار الأحداث أو قبل الوقت المعتاد أو المتوقع

🇮🇷Persian

اوایل

در یا نزدیک به آغاز یک دوره زمانی یا دوره ای از رویدادها یا قبل از زمان معمول یا مورد انتظار

🇹🇷Turkish

erken

belirli bir zaman periyodunun veya olayların akışının başlangıcında veya yakınında veya olağan veya beklenen zamandan önce

🇮🇱Hebrew

מוּקדָם

בתחילת פרק זמן או מהלך אירועים או לפני הזמן הרגיל או הצפוי

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'early'?

The primary meaning of 'early' is 'at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'early' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'early' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'early' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'early' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'early' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'early' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'early' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'early' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'early' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'early' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted