early: [OE] Broken down into its equivalent parts in modern English, early means ‘before-ly’. It was a compound formed from Old English ǣr (ancestor of modern English ere ‘before’) and the adverb ending -ly, modelled probably on the parallel Old Norse form árligr. Ere itself was actually originally a comparative form, which before it was used for ‘before’ meant ‘earlier’.
Old English ǣr came from prehistoric Germanic *airiz, the comparative form of *air ‘early’. Related forms in other Indo-European languages, such as Greek eri ‘in the morning’ and Avestan (the sacred form of Old Iranian) ayarə ‘day’, suggest that its underlying meaning is ‘early in the morning’. => ere
early (adv.)
Old English ærlice "early," from ær "soon, ere" (see ere) + -lice, adverbial suffix (see -ly (2)). Compare Old Norse arliga "early." The adjective is Old English ærlic. The early bird of the proverb is from 1670s. Related: Earlier; earliest.
实用例句
1. Early American weathervanes were most often cut from flat wooden boards.
美国早期的风向标大多截自平直的木板。来自柯林斯例句
2. Ethiopia'sart springs from her early Christian as well as her Muslim heritage.
埃塞俄比亚的艺术起源于其早期的基督教和伊斯兰教文化遗产。来自柯林斯例句
3. A Delta II rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral early this morning.
今天一早，一枚“德尔塔”Ⅱ型火箭在卡纳维拉尔角发射升空。来自柯林斯例句
4. Two trains collided head-on in north-eastern Germany early this morning.
今天早上德国东北部两列火车迎面相撞。来自柯林斯例句
5. If cancers are spotted early there'sa high chance of survival.
