资料来源 : pyDict

早的,初期的

资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

            Early and provident fear is the mother of safety.
                                                  --Burke.

            The doorsteps and threshold with the early grass
            springing up about them.              --Hawthorne.

   2. Coming in the first part of a period of time, or among the
      first of successive acts, events, etc.

            Seen in life's early morning sky.     --Keble.

            The forms of its earlier manhood.     --Longfellow.

            The earliest poem he composed was in his seventeenth
            summer.                               --J. C.
                                                  Shairp.

   {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.

资料来源 : WordNet®

early
     adj 1: 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" [ant: {middle}, {late}]
     2: being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an
        early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an
        early computer" [ant: {late}]
     3: of the distant past; "the early inhabitants of Europe";
        "former generations"; "in other times" [syn: {early(a)}, {former(a)},
         {other(a)}]
     4: very young; "at an early age"
     5: 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" [ant: {middle}, {late}]
     6: expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the
        negotiations"
     [also: {earliest}, {earlier}]

earliest
     adj : (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}]
     adv : with the least delay; "the soonest I can arrive is 3 P.M."
           [syn: {soonest}]

early
     adv 1: during an early stage; "early on in her career" [syn: {early
            on}]
     2: before the usual time or the time expected; "she graduated
        early"; "the house was completed ahead of time" [syn: {ahead
        of time}, {too soon}] [ant: {late}]
     3: in good time; "he awoke betimes that morning" [syn: {betimes}]
     [also: {earliest}, {earlier}]

earliest
     See {early}