Earlier

How to spell earlier

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce earlier

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does earlier mean?

1. adverbAt a time before the present or before a stated moment.
2. adjectiveBelonging to or happening in a time before another.

Earlier in a sentence

• adverb

  The train arrived earlier than scheduled, so she waited on the platform.

• adjective

  An earlier draft of the contract used different wording.

• adverb

  As mentioned earlier in this report, the figures are provisional.

• adjective

  The museum displays tools from an earlier period of history.

Where does earlier come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is the comparative form of 'early', which traces back to the Old English ǣrlīce, an adverb meaning 'sooner' or 'before'. That word was built on ǣr, meaning 'before' or 'soon', a native Germanic root that also lies behind the old-fashioned word 'ere', meaning 'before'. The element that became -ly was the common adverb-and-adjective ending, while the -er on the end is the ordinary comparative suffix that English adds to make 'taller' or 'faster'. The spelling trap sits in the 'ear' opening, which looks as though it should rhyme with 'ear' or 'hear' but does not, and in the run of vowels at the close, where the soft, unstressed '-lier' ending can tempt writers toward 'erlier' or 'earlyer'. Remembering the plain word 'early' inside it keeps the spelling on track.

How the word is built

• earl- (from Old English ǣr: before, sooner)
• -ly (forming the adverb/adjective early)
• -er (comparative suffix)