early on

adverb

Updated on: 22 Apr 2018

Definition of early on

: at or during an early point or stage

the reasons were obvious early on in the experiment

Using early on

This adverb is sometimes objected to in American writing as an obtrusive Briticism. It is a relative newcomer to the language, having arisen in British English around 1928. It seems to have filled a need, however. It came into frequent use in American English in the late 1960s and is now well established on both sides of the Atlantic in both speech and writing.

Recent Examples of early on from the Web

Schumer doesn't reach quite the highs of her Trainwreck work — that movie perfectly nailed a happy medium between comedy and drama, while Pretty leans dour early on until Renee has her epic spin-cycle fail.

— brian truitt, USA TODAY, "Review: Amy Schumer's 'I Feel Pretty' is a Cinderella rewrite on confidence," 18 Apr. 2018
According to Saks Off 5th’s website, the doors will open early on Thursday — at 9 a.m. — with a number of promotions.

— mikaela porter, Courant Community, "Redevelopment Brings Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, REI And Shake Shack To Corbin's Corner," 18 Apr. 2018
The US Senate has approved a budget deal including a stopgap funding bill, but the vote early on Friday came after a midnight deadline and too late to prevent a federal government shutdown.

— mike ward, Houston Chronicle, "Is Greg Abbott taking a cue from Bill Clinton?," 17 Apr. 2018
On the Markets | The pound rose to its strongest against the dollar since the referendum, trading at $1.4341 early on Tuesday.

— emma ross-thomas, Bloomberg.com, "Brexit Bulletin: Second Referendum? Business Says No," 17 Apr. 2018
Runners were mostly reluctant to move in front of the pack early on.

— malika andrews, New York Times, "Desiree Linden and Yuki Kawauchi Pull Off Upsets in Rainy Boston Marathon," 16 Apr. 2018
The route of the terror tunnel was identified by security forces early on & monitored thereafter.

— ian lee, CNN, "Israeli army destroys 'deepest and longest' tunnel from Gaza," 15 Apr. 2018
Henderson was five strokes ahead early on the back nine, but four-putted the par-3 16th for a double bogey and bogeyed the par-4 18th.

— BostonGlobe.com, "DeChambeau enjoys career day at Hilton Head," 14 Apr. 2018
Russia said none of the more than 100 cruise missiles fired early on Saturday entered airspace covered by Russian air defense systems, easing worries of an escalation into wider conflict.

— Fortune, "It's Business as Usual for Syria's Assad After U.S.-Led Attacks," 14 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'early on.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.