1. (

• earlier ,
• earliest

) (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" ;

1. (

• earlier ,
• before ,

) 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" ;

2. (

• sooner ,
• earlier ,

) comparatives of `soon' or `early'; "Come a little sooner, if you can"; "came earlier than I expected" ;

3. (

• in_the_first_place ,
• earlier ,
• in_the_beginning ,
• to_begin_with ,
• originally ,

) before now; "why didn't you tell me in the first place?" ;