Key: "S:" = Show Synset (semantic) relations, "W:" = Show Word (lexical) relations
Display options for sense: (gloss) "an example sentence"
Adjective
S: (adj) earlier, earliest ((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"
S: (adj) 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"
S: (adj) early (of an early stage in the development of a language or literature) "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"
S: (adj) early (expected in the near future) "look for an early end to the negotiations"
Adverb
S: (adv) earlier, before (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"
S: (adv) sooner, earlier (comparatives of `soon' or `early') "Come a little sooner, if you can"; "came earlier than I expected"