Unscramble earlier

Definition of earlier

adjective:

• (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". Synonyms: earliest.
• at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time; "early morning", "an early warning", "early diagnosis", "an early death", "took early retirement", "an early spring", "early varieties of peas and tomatoes mature before most standard varieties". Synonyms: early. Antonyms: late, middle.
• being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage", "early forms of life", "early man", "an early computer". Synonyms: early. Antonyms: late.
• belonging to the distant past; "the early inhabitants of Europe", "former generations", "in other times". Synonyms: early, former, other.
• very young; "at an early age". Synonyms: early.
• of an early stage in the development of a language or literature; "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is that used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C.", "Early Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to 1700". Synonyms: early. Antonyms: late, middle.
• expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the negotiations". Synonyms: early.

adverb:

• earlier in time; previously; "I had known her before", "as I said before", "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier", "her parents had died four years earlier", "I mentioned that problem earlier". Synonyms: before.
• comparatives of `soon' or `early'; "Come a little sooner, if you can", "came earlier than I expected". Synonyms: sooner.
• before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?". Synonyms: in the beginning, in the first place, originally, to begin with.