earlier

Ear·ly  (ûrl), Jubal Anderson 1816-1894.

American Confederate general whose forces threatened Washington, D.C. (1864) but were ultimately defeated by Union troops led by Philip H. Sheridan (1865).

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ear·ly  (ûrl)

adj. ear·li·er, ear·li·est

1. Of or occurring near the beginning of a given series, period of time, or course of events: in the early morning; scored two runs in the early innings.

2.

a. Of or belonging to a previous or remote period of time: the early inhabitants of the British Isles.

b. Of or belonging to an initial stage of development: an early form of life; an early computer.

3. Occurring, developing, or appearing before the expected or usual time: an early spring; an early retirement.

4. Maturing or developing relatively soon: an early variety of tomato.

5. Occurring in the near future: Observers predicted an early end to the negotiations.

adv. ear·lier, ear·liest

1.

a. Near the beginning of a given series, period of time, or course of events: departed early in the day; scored important victories early in the campaign.

b. At or near the beginning of the morning: She never used to get up so early.

2. At or during a remote or initial period: decided very early to go into medicine.

3. Before the expected or usual time: arrived at the meeting a few minutes early.

4. Soon in relation to others of its kind: a rose that was cultivated to bloom early.

Idiom:

early on

At an early stage or point: "Early on, [he] found that being honest and being funny were almost the same thing" (Maureen Orth).

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[Middle English erli, from Old English rlce : r, before; see ayer- in Indo-European roots + -lce, adv. suff.; see -ly².]

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earli·ness n.

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	earlier - (comparative and superlative of `early') more early than; most early; "a fashion popular in earlier times"; "his earlier work reflects the influence of his teacher"; "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera" earliest comparative, comparative degree - the comparative form of an adjective or adverb; "`faster' is the comparative of the adjective `fast'"; "`less famous' is the comparative degree of the adjective `famous'"; "`more surely' is the comparative of the adverb `surely'" early - at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time; "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"
Adv.	1.	earlier - earlier in time; previously; "I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier"; "her parents had died four years earlier"; "I mentioned that problem earlier" before
	2.	earlier - comparatives of `soon' or `early'; "Come a little sooner, if you can"; "came earlier than I expected" sooner
	3.	earlier - before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?" in the first place, to begin with, in the beginning, originally

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earlier

adverb

1. before, previously For reasons mentioned earlier, I will not be able to attend.

2.

adjective previous, former, past, prior, preceding Earlier reports of gunshots have not been confirmed.

Translations

earlier [ˈɜː^rliə^r]

adj comparative

(= previous) [meeting] → précédent(e); [edition, report, idea] → antérieur(e)
at an earlier date → à une date antérieure

(= not so late) [time] → plus tôt

adv

(= not so late) → plus tôt
I ought to get up earlier → Je devrais me lever plus tôt.
I can't come any earlier → Je ne peux pas venir plus tôt.
earlier than → plus tôt que
She left earlier than us → Elle est partie plus tôt que nous.

(= some time ago) → tout à l'heure
I saw him earlier → Je l'ai vu tout à l'heure.
earlier this year → plus tôt dans l'année

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earlier

adj comp of early → früher; in earlier times → früher, in vergangenen Zeiten; at an earlier date → früher, eher; in his/her earlier years he/she had … → in jüngeren Jahren hatte er/sie …; her earlier dislike gave way to hatred → aus ihrer anfänglichen Abneigung wurde Hass

adv earlier (on) → früher; (= just now) → vorhin; earlier (on) in the novel → an einer früheren Stelle in dem Roman; this is what we talked about earlier (on) → darüber haben wir vorhin schon gesprochen; her parents had died four years earlier → ihre Eltern waren vier Jahre früher or vorher or zuvor gestorben; earlier (on) today → heute (vor einigen Stunden); earlier (on) this month/year → früher in diesem Monat/in diesem Jahr; I cannot do it earlier than Thursday → ich kann es nicht vor Donnerstag or eher als Donnerstag machen

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earlier → أقدم dříve tidligere früher νωρίτερα más temprano aikaisemmin plus tôt ranije anteriormente 前に 더 일찍 vroeger tidligere wcześniej antecipadamente раньше tidigare ก่อนหน้านั้น daha önce sớm hơn 较早前