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"
being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer"
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"
very young; "at an early age"
expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the negotiations"
before the usual time or the time expected; "she graduated early"; "the house was completed ahead of time"
totally and definitely; without question; "we are absolutely opposed to the idea"; "he forced himself to lie absolutely still"; "iron is absolutely necessary"
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers; "an absolutely magnificent painting"; "a perfectly idiotic idea"; "you're perfectly right"; "utterly miserable"; "you can be dead sure of my innocence"; "was dead tired"; "dead right"