Old vs Early - What's the difference?
old | early |
Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
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*:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
#Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
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#Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.
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Of an item that has been used and so is not new (unused).
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Having existed or lived for the specified time.
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(lb) Of an earlier time.
#Former, previous.
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#*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
#*1994 , Michael Grumley, Life Drawing
#*:But over my old life, a new life had formed.
#That is no longer in existence.
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#Obsolete; out-of-date.
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#Familiar.
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Tiresome.
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Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
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(lb) Excessive, abundant.
*1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) , :
*:URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;
People who are old; old beings; the older generation; usually used with the .
At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.
Near the start or beginning.
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, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Having begun to occur; in its early stages.
At a time before expected; sooner than usual.
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, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.}}
Soon; in good time; seasonably.
* Bible, Proverbs viii. 17
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A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.
* 2007 , Paul W. Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue (page 193)
As nouns the difference between old and early
is that old is age while early is a shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.As an adjective early is
at a time in advance of the usual or expected event.As an adverb early is
at a time before expected; sooner than usual.old
English
(wikipedia old)Adjective
(en-adj)Synonyms
* (having existed for a long period of time) ancient, long in the tooth * (having lived for many years) aged, ageing / aging, elderly, long in the tooth, on in years * (having existed or lived for the specified time) aged, of age * (former) erstwhile, ex-, former, one-time, past * (out-of-date) antiquated, obsolete (words) * See alsoAntonyms
* (having existed for a long period of time) brand new, fresh, new * (having lived for many years) young * (former) current, latest, newDerived terms
* age-old * any old * big old * good old * little old * old age * old-age * Old Akkadian * Old Armenian * Old Assyrian * old as the hills * Old Babylonian * Old Blighty * Old Bulgarian * Old Church Slavic * Old Church Slavonic * old college try * old country * Old Czech * Old Dutch * olden * Old Egyptian * Old English * old fart * old-fashioned * old flame * Old Flemish * old fogey * old franc * Old Franconian * Old Frankish * Old French * Old Frisian * Old Glory * old gold * old growth * old guard * old hand * old hat * Old High German * Old Icelandic * oldies * Old Indic * Old Indo-Aryan * Old Ionic * Old Iranian * Old Irish * old lace * old lady * Old Latin * Old Low Franconian * Old Low Frankish * Old Low German * old maid * old man * old money * Old Nick * Old Norse * Old North French * Old Norwegian * old penny * Old Persian * * Old Prussian * old regime * Old Russian * olds * old salt * old saw * Old Saxon * Old Scandinavian * old school * Old Slavic * Old Slavonic * old sweat * Old Testament * old-time * old-timer * Old Welsh * old woman * Old World * old-world * over-old * same old same old * same old story * some old * you can't put an old head on young shouldersNoun
(usually used as plural)- A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.
Statistics
*early
English
Adjective
(er)High and wet, passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early , intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.}}
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage='Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.}}
The attack of the MOOCs, passage=Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.}}
Synonyms
* (at a time in advance of the usual): premature * (near the start): firstAntonyms
* (at a time in advance of the usual): late * : terminalDerived terms
(Derived terms) * earliness * early bath * early bird/the early bird catches the worm * early doors * early grave * early innings * earlyish * Early Latin * early modern * early music * early on * early purple orchid * early retirement * early spider orchid * early syphilis * * early warning radar * early winter cress * early withdrawal * nice and earlyAdverb
(er)- Those that seek me early shall find me.
- You must wake and call me early .
Synonyms
* prematurelyAntonyms
* late, tardilyNoun
(earlies)- On my first day on the watch after leaving the shoplifting squad I paraded on earlies but had completely forgotten to take my ear ring off.
