Word Study
earlier (root: early)
CIDE DICTIONARY
earlier, adj.
occurring at a prior time; as, on earlier occasions. [WordNet 1.5]
THESAURUS
earlier
aforetime, already, antecedent, anterior, anticipatory, as yet, before, before all, before now, beforehand, beforetime, ci-devant, down, early, elder, ere, ere then, erenow, erewhile, erst, erstwhile, first, fore, foregoing, former, formerly, heretofore, historically, hitherto, in the past, in times past, inferior, lower, lowest, nether, older, once, only yesterday, or ever, preceding, precurrent, preexistent, prehistorically, previous, previously, prime, prior, priorly, recently, senior, so far, sooner, subjacent, then, theretofore, thus far, under, whilom, yesterday, yetROGET THESAURUS
earlier
Priority
N priority, antecedence, anteriority, precedence, pre-existence, precession, precursor, the past, premises, prior, previous, preceding, precedent, anterior, antecedent, pre- existing, pre-existent, former, foregoing, aforementioned, before- mentioned, abovementioned, aforesaid, said, introductory, before, prior to, earlier, previously, afore, aforehand, beforehand, ere, theretofore, erewhile, ere then, ere now, before then, before now, erewhile, already, yet, beforehand, on the eve of, prior tempore prior jure.For further exploring for "earlier" in Webster Dictionary Online