a. [ Compar. Earlier superl. Earliest. ] [ OE. earlich. √204. See Early, adv. ] 1. In advance of the usual or appointed time; in good season; prior in time; among or near the first; -- opposed to late; as, the early bird; an early spring; early fruit. [ 1913 Webster ] Early and provident fear is the mother of safety. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ] The doorsteps and threshold with the early grass springing up about them. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Coming in the first part of a period of time, or among the first of successive acts, events, etc. [ 1913 Webster ] Seen in life's early morning sky. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ] The forms of its earlier manhood. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ] The earliest poem he composed was in his seventeenth summer. J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]
Early English (Philol.) See the Note under English. --
Early English architecture, the first of the pointed or Gothic styles used in England, succeeding the Norman style in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Syn. -- Forward; timely; not late; seasonable. [ 1913 Webster ] | 
