*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of early

From Middle English erly, erlich, earlich, from Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective), equivalent to ere + -ly.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.

adj

At a time in advance of the usual or expected event. · Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time. · After but close to the start of a period of time. · In the starting hours of the day.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English erly, erlich, earlich, from Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective), equivalent to ere + -ly.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionerlyenm
  • Inherited-form mentionǣrlīċang · early

This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "adjective"
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      "expansion": ""
    },
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      "name": "inh",
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        "3": "erly"
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      "expansion": "Middle English erly"
    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "ǣrlīċ",
        "t": "early",
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      "expansion": "Old English ǣrlīċ (“early”, adjective)"
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      "erly",
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    ],
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      "erlich",
      "erlich#Middle_English"
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      "earlich",
      "earlich#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "ǣrlīċ",
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      "ere#English"
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      "-ly",
      "-ly#English:_adjectival"
    ]
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day."
      ],
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        "informal"
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        "After but close to the start of a period of time.",
        "In the starting hours of the day."
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
adv

At a time before expected; sooner than usual. · Soon; in good time; seasonably.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *-eri Proto-Indo-European *h₂éyeri Proto-Germanic *airi Proto-Germanic *airiz Old English ǣr Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *-ê Proto-Germanic *-līkê Proto-West Germanic *-līkē Old English -līċe Old English ǣrlīċe Middle English erly English early From Middle English erly, orely, arely, erliche, arliche, from Old English ǣrlīċe, ārlīċe (“early; early in the morning”, adverb), equivalent to ere + -ly. Cognate with Old Norse árliga, árla ( > Danish årle, Swedish arla, Norwegian årle, Faroese árla).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:erly<id:adverb>",
        "id": "adverb",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂ey-\nProto-Indo-European *-eri\nProto-Indo-European *h₂éyeri\nProto-Germanic *airi\nProto-Germanic *airiz\nOld English ǣr\nProto-Indo-European *leyg-der.\nProto-Germanic *līkąder.\nProto-Germanic *-līkaz\nProto-Germanic *-ê\nProto-Germanic *-līkê\nProto-West Germanic *-līkē\nOld English -līċe\nOld English ǣrlīċe\nMiddle English erly\nEnglish early\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*airi\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*airiz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"ǣr\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" }, { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"like\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*leyg-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*līką\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līkaz\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-ê\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līkê\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līkē\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"is_duplicate\" : true, \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : { \"1\" : \"gem-pro\", \"2\" : \":der\", \"3\" : \"*līką\", \"id\" : \"-like\" }, \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līkaz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-līk\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-līċ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" }, { \"id\" : \"adverbial\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*-ā\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-ê\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-e\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"afeq\", \"is_invisible\" : \"all\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-līċe\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"ǣrlīċe\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"erly\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"early\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"adverb\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"early\" id=\"English:_adverb\">"
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        "2": "enm",
        "3": "erly"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English erly"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "ǣrlīċe"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English ǣrlīċe"
    },
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      "name": "suf",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ere",
        "3": "ly",
        "id2": "adverbial"
      },
      "expansion": "ere + -ly"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "árliga"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse árliga"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "årle"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish årle"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "arla"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish arla"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "årle"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian årle"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "árla"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese árla"
    },
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      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:erly<id:adverb>",
        "id": "adverb",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂ey-\nProto-Indo-European *-eri\nProto-Indo-European *h₂éyeri\nProto-Germanic *airi\nProto-Germanic *airiz\nOld English ǣr\nProto-Indo-European *leyg-der.\nProto-Germanic *līkąder.\nProto-Germanic *-līkaz\nProto-Germanic *-ê\nProto-Germanic *-līkê\nProto-West Germanic *-līkē\nOld English -līċe\nOld English ǣrlīċe\nMiddle English erly\nEnglish early"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*h₂ey-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂ey-#Proto-Indo-European:_day"
    ],
    [
      "*-eri",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-eri"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂éyeri",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂éyeri"
    ],
    [
      "*airi",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/airi"
    ],
    [
      "*airiz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/airiz"
    ],
    [
      "ǣr",
      "ær#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*leyg-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leyg-#Proto-Indo-European:_like"
    ],
    [
      "*līką",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/līką"
    ],
    [
      "*-līkaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-līkaz"
    ],
    [
      "*-ê",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-ê"
    ],
    [
      "*-līkê",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-līkê"
    ],
    [
      "*-līkē",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-līkē"
    ],
    [
      "-līċe",
      "-lice#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "ǣrlīċe",
      "ærlice#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "erly",
      "erly#Middle_English:_adverb"
    ],
    [
      "erly",
      "erly#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "orely",
      "orely#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "arely",
      "arely#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "erliche",
      "erliche#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "arliche",
      "arliche#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "ǣrlīċe",
      "ærlice#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "ārlīċe",
      "arlice#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "ere",
      "ere#English"
    ],
    [
      "-ly",
      "-ly#English:_adverbial"
    ],
    [
      "árliga",
      "árliga#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "árla",
      "árla#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "årle",
      "årle#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "arla",
      "arla#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "årle",
      "årle#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "árla",
      "árla#Faroese"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "At a time before expected; sooner than usual.",
        "Soon; in good time; seasonably."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for early →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
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Import run
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Permanent entry ID
w-ZWFybHk