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"
the action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an instance thereof); "they were restrained by a prohibition in their charter"; "a medical inhibition of alcoholic beverages"; "he ignored his parents' forbiddance"
a law forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages; "in 1920 the 18th amendment to the Constitution established prohibition in the US"
a decree that prohibits something
refusal to approve or assent to
the period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment