Basic+ Word of the Day: early

early (adverb, adjective)

"It's too early!"

If something happens early, it means that it happens before the usual time.

• I got up early this morning.

If you are early, it means that you arrive somewhere before the time that you need to be there.

• I was early for the meeting so I had to wait.

We can also use early to talk about the start of a period of time.

• It’s usually quiet early in the morning.
• The best time to visit France is early July.

Related words

An early bird is someone who likes mornings. They prefer to get up early and do their work in the morning. But if you like to go to bed late, you’re a night owl!

In pop culture

The Princess Diaries is a movie about a girl who learns that she is a princess. She doesn’t know how to be a princess, so the Queen has to teach her. In this video from the movie, the Queen arrives late for a party. But it isn’t possible for a queen to be late (because queens have to always be perfect), so she says that everyone else is early!

There are other meanings of early.