Definition of Earliest

1. Adjective. (comparative and superlative of 'early') more early than; most early. "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera"

Exact synonyms: Earlier
Language type: Comparative, Comparative Degree
Similar to: Early

2. Adverb. With the least delay. "The soonest I can arrive is 3 P.M."
Exact synonyms: Soonest

Definition of Earliest

1. Adjective. (superlative of early) ¹

2. Adverb. (superlative of early) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Earliest

1. early [adv] - See also: early

Lexicographical Neighbors of Earliest

earlduck
earleaved umbrella tree
earles
earles penny
earless
earless lizard
earless seal
earless seals
earlessness
earlet
earlets
earlid
earlids
earlier
earlies
earliest (current term)
earlike
earliness
earlinesses
earlobe
earlobes
earlock
earlocks
earloop
earloops
earls
earlshannonite
earlship
earlships
early

Literary usage of Earliest

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Publications by Oxford Historical Society (1885)
"It is a good rule in considering the derivation of the name of a place, to begin by strictly observing the earliest form in which the name occurs, ..."

2. The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem Van Loon (1921)
"OUR earliest ANCESTORS WE know very little about the first "true" men. We have never seen their pictures. In the deepest layer of clay of an ancient soil we ..."

3. Journal of the American Chemical Society by American Chemical Society (1903)
"In the Atharva-veda, the Charaka and the Susruta, occur the earliest references to therapeutical and chemical knowledge, as well as to pharmaceutical ..."

4. The English Historical Review by Mandell Creighton, Justin Winsor, Samuel Rawson Gardiner, Reginald Lane Poole, John Goronwy Edwards (1901)
"THE earliest SEMITES. THE earliest history of Babylonia at present attainable presents us with a more or less continuous struggle between three or four ..."

5. Notes and Queries by Martim de Albuquerque (1858)
"Walpole's Speech, reported in Times, June 3. xp [From the earliest times the ... [The earliest edition in the British Museum, which seems to be the first, ..."

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