From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Early \Ear"ly\, a. [Compar. Earlier ([~e]r"l[i^]*[~e]r);
superl. Earliest.] [OE. earlich. [root]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.
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The doorsteps and threshold with the early grass
springing up about them. --Hawthorne.
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2. Coming in the first part of a period of time, or among the
first of successive acts, events, etc.
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Seen in life's early morning sky. --Keble.
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The forms of its earlier manhood. --Longfellow.
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The earliest poem he composed was in his seventeenth
summer. --J. C.
Shairp.
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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]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
earliest \earliest\ adj.
preceding all others in time.
Syn: premier, premiere.
[WordNet 1.5]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
earliest
adv 1: with the least delay; "the soonest I can arrive is 3
P.M." [syn: soonest, earliest]
adj 1: (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" [syn:
earlier, earliest]