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.
