Meaning

6 senses
  1. At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.

    at eleven, we went for an early lunch; she began reading at an early age; his mother suffered an early death

    früh, verfrüht, frühzeitig

    ра́ннийránnij, ра́ннийránnij

    ра́ннійránnij, завча́снийzavčásnyj

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

  2. Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.

    You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine o'clock.

    The early guests sipped their punch and avoided each other's eyes.

  3. After but close to the start of a period of time.

    The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works.

    Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats.

    früh

    ра́ннийránnij

  4. In the starting hours of the day.

    It's too early for this sort of thing. I'm not awake yet.

  5. Having begun to occur; in its early stages.

    early cancer

    harvesting early peaches

  6. Of a star or class of stars, hotter than the sun.

Examples

6162 sentences
  1. I go to bed very early.

    Я лягаю спати дуже рано.

    ruЯ ложусь спать очень рано.

    deIch gehe sehr früh zu Bett.

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  2. Why did she come home early?

    Чому вона прийшла додому раніше?

    ruПочему она рано пришла домой?

    deWarum ist sie früher nach Hause gekommen?

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  3. I will come earlier next time.

    У наступний раз я прийду раніше.

    ruВ следующий раз приду пораньше.

    deNächstes Mal werde ich früher kommen.

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  4. I got up early this morning.

    Сьогодні вранці я прокинувся рано.

    ruСегодня утром я встал рано.

    deIch bin heute Morgen früh aufgestanden.

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  5. Old people get up very early.

    Старі люди прокидаються рано.

    ruСтарые люди просыпаются рано.

    deAlte Leute stehen sehr früh auf.

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Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
at a time in advance of the usual:
Русский
By meaning 1
at a time in advance of the usual:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
at a time in advance of the usual:

Origin

From Middle English erly, erlich, earlich, from Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective), eq

From Middle English erly, erlich, earlich, from Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective), equivalent to ere + -ly.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

earlier, earliest
Comparativeearlier Lesson
Superlativeearliest Lesson

regular

Synonyms

7 synonyms
ripening before other:newA1
near but after the start:firstA1
at a time in advance of the usual:premature
Close in meaning

Antonyms

4 antonyms
illness: having begun to occur:terminalB1

Word family

46 related words

Collocations

12 patterns
  • earlier earlier
  • get up early
  • leave early
  • earlier earlier than
  • go home early
  • to leave early
  • left early
  • home early
  • to bed early
  • here earlier earlier
  • early today
  • early this morning

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
early — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto