1. early

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

Example Sentences:
'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'

• aboriginal
• primaeval
• primal
• primeval
• primordial
• advance
• beforehand
• archaean
• archean
• archaeozoic
• archeozoic
• azoic
• earlier
• earliest
• earlyish
• premature
• untimely
• premature
• previous
• proterozoic
• proto
• wee

2. early

being or occurring at an early stage of development

Example Sentences:
'in an early stage'
'early forms of life'
'early man'
'an early computer'

• archaic
• primitive
• crude
• primitive
• rude
• embryonic
• embryotic
• inchoate
• incipient
• new
• young
• precocious

3. early, former, other

belonging to the distant past

Example Sentences:
'the early inhabitants of Europe'
'former generations'
'in other times'

• former
• other

4. early

very young

Example Sentences:
'at an early age'

• immature
• young

5. early

of an early stage in the development of a language or literature

Example Sentences:
'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

expected in the near future

Example Sentences:
'look for an early end to the negotiations'

7. early, early on

during an early stage

Example Sentences:
'early on in her career'

• early on

8. ahead of time, early, too soon

before the usual time or the time expected

Example Sentences:
'she graduated early'
'the house was completed ahead of time'

• ahead of time
• too soon

9. betimes, early

in good time

Example Sentences:
'he awoke betimes that morning'

• betimes