early on

adverb

|Updated on: 11 Aug 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

The inclusion of Bronico and Aleksandar Katai in the second half gave the Fire some offensive life, as the visiting side come close to evening the score on a couple of occasions early on in the second half.

— juan pimiento, chicagotribune.com, "10-man Chicago Fire drop their 3rd straight against FC Dallas," 14 July 2018
Put in place early on in the Obama administration, the tax credit was seen as a tool that could be used to encourage customers to buy plug-in electric or hybrid vehicles.

— sean o'kane, The Verge, "Tesla will be the first automaker to lose the federal tax credit for electric cars," 12 July 2018
One understated detail: U.S. troops participated early on in the rescue operation, lending support to a situation that at times seemed all but impossible.

— kyle mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "How the U.S. Military Helped Support the Thai Cave Rescue," 11 July 2018
Remember, this was early on in the whole thing, so the movie — directed by Kenneth Branagh, no less — didn't feel the need to be about much more than just being a Thor origin story.

— bill goodykoontz, azcentral, "We rank every movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from worst to best," 6 July 2018
The election happened midway through shooting, and the show aired so early on in the presidency that Season 1 still played for me as a kind of hypothetical doomsday scenario.

— emma dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Max Minghella Talks Playing the Only Good Man in Gilead on The Handmaid's Tale," 5 July 2018
There's plenty to be excited about early on in your pregnancy.

— korin miller, SELF, "What to Know About Bonjesta, the Morning Sickness Drug Kim Kardashian Is Posting About on Instagram," 28 June 2018
UConn freshmen Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Christyn Williams have impressed their older teammates and coach so far this summer, showing promise early on in team workouts.

— kelli stacy, courant.com, "UConn Women's Basketball Upperclassmen Impressed With Freshmen," 27 June 2018
T’Challa’s suit receives an upgrade early on in Black Panther, thanks to the technical wizardry of his scientist sister Shuri.

— ryan p. smith, Smithsonian, "King T’Challa’s Black Panther Suit, a Bold Statement of Afrofuturist Pride, Comes to the Smithsonian," 25 June 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.