EARLIER Synonyms

• preceding in time or order

• someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

• a preceding occurrence or cause or event

• anything that precedes something similar in time

• the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun

• especially of writing or speech; going before

• earlier than the present time; no longer current

• the time that has elapsed

• a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret)

• a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past

• so as to pass a given point

• of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office

• an example that is used to justify similar occurrences at a later time

• (civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions

• a system of jurisprudence based on judicial precedents rather than statutory laws

• a subject mentioned earlier (preceding in time)

• preceding in time, order, or significance

• existing or coming before

• of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office

• warning of future misfortune

• just preceding something else in time or order

• (used especially of persons) of the immediate past

• too soon or too hasty

• the head of a religious order; in an abbey the prior is next below the abbot

• earlier in time

• in good time

• preceding all others in time or space or degree

• highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections

• the first or highest in an ordering or series

• the first element in a countable series

• the time at which something is supposed to begin

• the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed at first of the bases in the infield (counting counterclockwise from home plate)

• an honours degree of the highest class

• the lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving

• before anything else

• the initial time

• before another in time, space, or importance

• prominently forward

• serving to begin

• ranking above all others

• serving to set in motion

• not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied; quantifier, other

• recently past

• belonging to the distant past

• very unusual; different in character or quality from the normal or expected

• born after a gestation period of less than the normal time

• too soon or too hasty

• uncommonly early or before the expected time

• (of childbirth) before the end of the normal period of gestation

• too soon; in a premature manner

• before the usual time or the time expected

• during an early stage

• before the usual time or the time expected