Quality of being, or having taken place, earlier.

comparative form of early: more early / occurring previously

comparative form of early: more early / previously; before now; sooner

At some time in the past; previously; earlier.

(linguistics, history) The phase of the Egyptian language characterized by a relatively synthetic typology, including Archaic Egyptian, Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Middle Egyptian, and Neo-Middle Egyptian, and contrasted against Later Egyptian.