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early
has definitions from the field of linguistics
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[ adjective ] at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
Examples "early morning" "an early warning" "early diagnosis" "an early death" "took early retirement" "an early spring" "early varieties of tomatoes" Used in print (Norman Kent, "The Watercolor Art of Roy M. Mason"...)Roy_Mason is essentially a landscape painter whose style and direction has a kinship with the English watercolorists of the early nineteenth century , especially the beautifully patterned art of John_Sell_Cotman . He worked in oil for years before beginning his work in watercolor , and his first public recognition and early honors , including his election to the Academy , were for his essays in the heavier medium . For me , these will belong more completely to their surroundings if they are conceived in this early stage , though I freely admit that I do not hesitate to add or eliminate figures on the full sheet when it serves my final purpose . ([Anonymous,] "The Attack on Employee Services"...)Would early retirement of non-productive , disabled employees reduce the number of make-work jobs ? (Sports Age, 24:9...)The early years of the twentieth century seem very far_away . |
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[ adjective ] being or occurring at an early stage of development
Examples "in an early stage" "early forms of life" "early man" "an early computer Used in print (Jack Kaplan, "The Health Machine Menace: Therapy by...)In such diseases as cancer , tuberculosis , and heart_disease , early diagnosis and treatment are so vital that the waste_of_time by the patient with Doctor_Fraud 's cure-all gadget can prove fatal . (Howard Nemerov, "Themes and Methods: The Early...)It appears that the dominant tendency of Mann 's early tales , however pictorial or even picturesque the surface , is already toward the symbolic , the emblematic , the expressionistic . (M. Yokoyama et al., "Chemical and serological...)When the early part of the gradient was flattened , either by using the gradient shown in Fig. 2 or by allowing the `` cone sphere '' gradient to become established more slowly , Region 2 activity could sometimes be separated into two areas ( donors P._J. and R._S. , Fig. 1 and E._M. , Fig. 2 ) . (Clifford H. Pope, The Giant Snakes....)When it comes_to rate of early growth , the Indian_python leads with a figure of about 3 feet 6 inches per_year for the first two years , more_or_less . (Edwin L. Bigelow and Nancy H. Otis,...)Early equipment was very flimsy ; the smallest gusts of wind toppled poles , making communications impossible . |
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[ adverb ] during an early stage
Synonyms Examples "early on in her career" Used in print (Bonnie Prudden, "The Dancer and the Gymnast"...)Another reason gymnastic study is valuable is that it can be started very early in life . To be fit , one has_to start early with young children , and today the only person who really reaches such children is the teacher of dance . It is very important for parents to understand that early training is imperative . And dancing_school , so helpful in artistic and psychological development , also contributes to this essential early training - and can contribute even more . (S. Idell Pyle, et al., Onsets, Completions, and...)Although the standard_deviation values on which spread of the lines are based are relatively larger for those centers which begin to ossify early ( Table 1 ) , there are considerable differences in this value between centers having the closely timed Onsets . |
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[ adjective ] of the distant past
Examples "the early inhabitants of Europe" "former generations" "in other times" Used in print (Jaroslav Pelikan, The Shape of Death: life, death and...)This emphasis upon death rather than sin as man 's fundamental problem Irenaeus shares with many early theologians , especially the Greek speaking ones . (Chester G. Starr, The Origins of Greek Civili...)The same conclusions can be drawn from the other physical evidence of the Dark_ages , from linguistic distribution , and from the survivals of early social , political , and religious patterns into later ages . For this period , as for earlier centuries , pottery remains the most secure source ; the ceramic material of the age is more abundant , more diversified , and more indicative_of the hopes and fears of its makers , who begin to show scenes of human life and death . We shall not be able entirely to pass_over these connections to the East as we consider Ripe_Geometric pottery , the epic and the myth , and the religious evolution of early Greece ; the important point , however , is that these magnificent achievements , unlike those of later decades , were only incidentally influenced by Oriental models . (J. H. Hexter, "Thomas More: On the Margins...)This conception was taken_up by the early Church_Fathers and by canon lawyers and theologians in the Middle_Ages ; and More was far too well_read not to have come_across it in one or several of the forms thus given it . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] very young
Examples "at an early age" Used in print (Schubert Ogden, Christ Without Myth....)We have aligned ourselves with that `` liberal '' tradition in Protestant Christianity that counts among the great names in its history those of Schleiermacher , Ritschl , Herrmann , Harnack , and Troeltsch , and more recently , Schweitzer and the early Barth and , in part at_least , Bultmann . (B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)The blooms of Ribes and of the willow and sloe are the places where large_numbers of our early insects will assemble : honeybees , bumblebees , and other wild bees , and also various kinds of flies . (Robert L. Duncan, The Voice of Strangers....)Even Rector himself was prey to this spirit of competition and he knew it , not for a more exalted office in the hierarchy of the church - his ambitions for the bishopry had died very early in his career - but for the one clear victory he had talked_about to the colonel . Related terms |
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[ adverb ] before the usual time or the time expected
Synonyms Examples "she graduated early" "the house was completed ahead of time" Used in print (Gerald Green, The Heartless Light....)The night before , they had telephoned the Andrus_maid , Selena_Masters , and she had arrived early , bursting her vigorous presence into the silent house with an assurance that amused McFeeley and confounded Moll . He did not want_to bring the Andruses to the station_house too early - Rheinholdt had summoned a press_conference , and he did n't want them subjected to the reporters again . (Leon Uris, Mila 8....)His watch told him he was still early . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] (linguistics) of an early stage in the development of a language or literature
Examples "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C." "Early Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to 1700" Used in print (Philip Reaves, "Who Rules the Marriage Bed?"...)This carried_over into the more urbanized late 19 th and early 20 th centuries , when the man ruled the roost in the best bull_roaring Life_With_Father manner . (H. A. Gleason, "Review of African language studies...)This must be considered primarily an amendment and supplement to his early A_short_Description_of_Item-Categories_in_Iraqw . Related terms |
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[ adverb ] in good time
Synonyms Examples "he awoke betimes that morning" Used in print (E. Lucas Myers, "The Vindication of Dr. Nestor,"...)`` What I want you to do is to go_to the market with me early tomorrow morning and help smuggle the hen back into the hotel '' . |
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[ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 1994
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[ adjective ] expected in the near future
Examples "look for an early end to the negotiations" Related terms |
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