- early
- early adv Early, soon, beforehand, betimes share the meaning of at or nearly at a given point of time or around the beginning of a specified or implied period of time.Early is used chiefly in reference to a period of time (as a day, a lifetime, an age, or a term) and in dating a happening with reference to the beginning of that period. In such use it implies occurrence shortly after the time at which the period is set to begin or is regarded as beginning{
crocuses blossomed early this spring
}{migrations took place early in the Middle Ages
}{early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise— Franklin
}{Voltaire perceived very early in life that to be needy was to be dependent— John Morley
}Sometimes, especially when the reference is to a point of time, early may mean in advance of the time set or expected or of the usual time; thus, a person who arrives early at a meeting and leaves early comes slightly before (sometimes just at) the time set or noticeably ahead of the others and leaves before the gathering breaks up; winter came early (that is, ahead of the expected or normal time) this year.Soon usually refers to a definite point of time (as the present or the beginning of a period, a process, or a course), but it commonly implies occurrence after the moment in mind; thus, when a physician tells a patient to come early, he by implication asks that patient to come in advance of the time set for the beginning of his office hours so that the patient may be attended to soon, or shortly after the office hours begin; on the other hand, when he asks a patient to come soon, he by implication requests another visit shortly after the present one. But soon carries not only the implication of subsequence to a specified or implied point of time but also, even more strongly, that of quickness or promptness or lack of delay{I called, and he soon appeared
}{the absconder was apprehended soon after his disappearance
}{I hope you will find your ring very soon
}Soon, however, is sometimes used in place of early, though with greater emphasis on promptness, in poetry, in some idiomatic expressions, and in the comparative and superlative degrees{late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers— Wordsworth
}{must you go so soon?
}{excuse my not writing sooner
}{the spirit. .. may know how soonest to accomplish the great end— Shelley
}Beforehand sometimes implies a time in advance of that set or expected or customary{he promised to be here beforehand
}More often it refers to a time in advance of a possible, probable, or certain occurrence, and it then usually implies anticipation or anticipatory measures{if one knows a thing beforehand one can be prepared
}{try to be beforehand in dealing with an enemy
}{had . . . taken unusual pains to inform himself beforehand concerning the subject matter— Dean
}Betimes is a somewhat old-fashioned or literary word that may replace either early or soon{not to be abed after midnight is to be up betimes— Shak.
}{he tires betimes that spurs too fast— Shak.
}More often it implies occurrence at the proper or due time and therefore stresses seasonableness. Something which happens betimes is neither too early nor too late{know the art of giving advice betimes
}{because he had learned his lesson betimes, he was able to give perfect satisfaction afterwards
}{if we had taken steps betimes to create an air force half as strong again ... we should have kept control of the future— Sir Winston Churchill
}Antonyms: late
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
