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earlier

ear·ly
E e

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [ur-lee]
    • /ˈɜr li/
    • /ˈɜː.li/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [ur-lee]
    • /ˈɜr li/

Definitions of earlier word

  • adverb earlier in or during the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc.: early in the year. 1
  • adverb earlier in the early part of the morning: to get up early. 1
  • adverb earlier before the usual or appointed time; ahead of time: They came early and found their hosts still dressing. 1
  • adverb earlier far back in time: The Greeks early learned to sail and navigate. 1
  • adjective earlier occurring in the first part of a period of time, a course of action, a series of events, etc.: an early hour of the day. 1
  • adjective earlier occurring before the usual or appointed time: an early dinner. 1
See all 26 definitions of earlier

Information block about the term

Origin of earlier

First appearance:

before 950
One of the 4% oldest English words
before 950; Middle English erlich (adj.), erliche (adv.), Old English ǣrlīc, ǣrlīce, mutated variant of ārlīc, ārlīce, equivalent to ār- early (positive of ǣr ere) + līc(e) -ly

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Earlier

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Earlier

earlier popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 100% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

earlier usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for earlier

adj earlier

  • prior — preceding in time or in order; earlier or former; previous: A prior agreement prevents me from accepting this.
  • previous — coming or occurring before something else; prior: the previous owner.
  • preceding — that precedes; previous: Refer back to the footnote on the preceding page.

adverb earlier

  • before — If something happens before a particular date, time, or event, it happens earlier than that date, time, or event.
  • in advance — to move or bring forward: The general advanced his troops to the new position.
  • previously — coming or occurring before something else; prior: the previous owner.
  • formerly — in time past; in an earlier period or age; previously: a custom formerly observed.
  • beforehand — If you do something beforehand, you do it earlier than a particular event.

adjective earlier

  • former — preceding in time; prior or earlier: during a former stage in the proceedings.
  • past — gone by or elapsed in time: It was a bad time, but it's all past now.

general earlier

All 12 Synonyms of earlier

Antonyms for earlier

adj earlier

  • later — occurring, coming, or being after the usual or proper time: late frosts; a late spring.
Just one Antonym for earlier

Top questions with earlier

  • how to make your period come earlier?
  • how does the modern study of history challenge earlier histories?
  • how to wake up earlier?

Related words

  • antedate

    to be or occur at an earlier date than

  • past

    gone by or elapsed in time: It was a bad time, but it's all past now.

  • above

    If one thing is above another one, it is directly over it or higher than it.

  • ahead

    Something that is ahead is in front of you. If you look ahead, you look directly in front of you.

  • antecedent

    An antecedent of something happened or existed before it and was similar to it in some way.

  • antique

    An antique is an old object such as a piece of china or furniture which is valuable because of its beauty or rarity.
All related words to earlier

See also

Matching words

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