The adj early has 6 senses (first 5 from tagged texts)
1. (80) early -- (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")
2. (22) early -- (being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer")
3. (10) early, former, other -- (belonging to the distant past; "the early inhabitants of Europe"; "former generations"; "in other times")
4. (6) early -- (very young; "at an early age")
5. (2) early -- (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")
6. early -- (expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the negotiations")
Overview of adv early
The adv early has 3 senses (first 3 from tagged texts)
1. (19) early on, early -- (during an early stage; "early on in her career")
2. (6) early, ahead of time, too soon -- (before the usual time or the time expected; "she graduated early"; "the house was completed ahead of time")
3. (1) early, betimes -- (in good time; "he awoke betimes that morning")