The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - early adv.

1) beforehand, ahead (of time) , prematurely: I arrived too early and had to wait. 2) anciently, initially, originally, at or near the start or beginning: Plants appeared early in the development of life forms on earth. 3) betimes, at cock crow or cock's-crow, at (the crack or break of) dawn, at daybreak: You're up early this morning! --adj. 4) untimely, premature; inopportune, inappropriate: The early fruit isn't as sweet. 5) initial, beginning, original, first, pioneer, advanced: He was one of the earliest writers on the subject. 6) primeval, primitive, primordial, ancient, old, prehistoric, antediluvian, original; antique, antiquated: The Olduvai Gorge has yielded up many early humanoid fossils.