Early | Mean of early in English Dictionary

/ˈɚli/

• at or near the beginning of a period of time or a process, activity, series, etc.
1. Early in his career he moved to the city.
2. a word first recorded early in the 17th century
3. They were trailing by a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
4. We learned early [=early on] not to question his decisions.
5. The package should be arriving early next week.
• before the usual or expected time
1. She arrived early to help with the preparations.
2. I got up early to finish packing.
3. I got up bright and early. [=very early]
• at or during an early point or stage
1. The reasons were obvious early on [=early] in the experiment.
2. Early on, the project was in trouble.

• existing or happening near the beginning of a period of time
1. early morning
2. the early 20th century
3. He is in his early thirties. [=he is about 31 or 32 years old]
4. She works the early shift. [=the shift that is in the early part of the day]
5. It was still early (in the morning) when she got out of bed.
• happening near the beginning of a process, activity, series, etc.
1. the early symptoms of the disease
2. the composer's early works [=works created at the beginning of the composer's career]
3. The early part of the book is better than the later part.
• coming or happening before the usual or expected time
1. We had an early spring this year.
2. an early bedtime
3. We're early. The show doesn't start for half an hour.
• doing something before the usual time or before others usually do
1. I've always been an early riser.
2. My daughter was an early reader. [=she learned to read at a young age]
• to get started on a journey, activity, etc., early in the day
1. We want to make an early start tomorrow.
• to go home or go to bed early
1. They decided to make an early night of it.