Early in Different Languages
Discover 'Early' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Early
Afrikaans vroeg | ||
Albanian herët | ||
Amharic ቀድሞ | ||
Arabic مبكرا | ||
Armenian վաղ | ||
Assamese আগতীয়া | ||
Aymara alwa | ||
Azerbaijani erkən | ||
Bambara joona | ||
Basque goiz | ||
Belarusian рана | ||
Bengali তাড়াতাড়ি | ||
Bhojpuri सेकराहे | ||
Bosnian rano | ||
Bulgarian рано | ||
Catalan aviat | ||
Cebuano sa sayo | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 早 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 早 | ||
Corsican prima | ||
Croatian rano | ||
Czech brzy | ||
Danish tidlig | ||
Dhivehi ކުރިން | ||
Dogri सबेला | ||
Dutch vroeg | ||
English early | ||
Esperanto frue | ||
Estonian vara | ||
Ewe kaba | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) maaga | ||
Finnish aikaisin | ||
French de bonne heure | ||
Frisian betiid | ||
Galician cedo | ||
Georgian ადრე | ||
German früh | ||
Greek νωρίς | ||
Guarani voi | ||
Gujarati વહેલી | ||
Haitian Creole bonè | ||
Hausa da wuri | ||
Hawaiian wanaʻao | ||
Hebrew מוקדם | ||
Hindi शीघ्र | ||
Hmong thaum ntxov | ||
Hungarian korai | ||
Icelandic snemma | ||
Igbo n'isi | ||
Ilocano nasapa | ||
Indonesian dini | ||
Irish go luath | ||
Italian presto | ||
Japanese 早い | ||
Javanese awal | ||
Kannada ಬೇಗ | ||
Kazakh ерте | ||
Khmer ដើម | ||
Kinyarwanda kare | ||
Konkani बेगीन | ||
Korean 이른 | ||
Krio ali | ||
Kurdish zû | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) زوو | ||
Kyrgyz эрте | ||
Lao ຕົ້ນ | ||
Latin mane | ||
Latvian agri | ||
Lingala ebandeli | ||
Lithuanian anksti | ||
Luganda mu nkeera | ||
Luxembourgish fréi | ||
Macedonian рано | ||
Maithili प्रारंभिक | ||
Malagasy tany am-boalohany | ||
Malay awal | ||
Malayalam നേരത്തെ | ||
Maltese kmieni | ||
Maori moata | ||
Marathi लवकर | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯉꯟꯅ | ||
Mizo hma | ||
Mongolian эрт | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အစောပိုင်း | ||
Nepali प्रारम्भिक | ||
Norwegian tidlig | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) molawirira | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଶୀଘ୍ର | ||
Oromo dursa | ||
Pashto وختي | ||
Persian زود | ||
Polish wcześnie | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) cedo | ||
Punjabi ਜਲਦੀ | ||
Quechua chawcha | ||
Romanian din timp | ||
Russian рано | ||
Samoan vave | ||
Sanskrit शीघ्रम् | ||
Scots Gaelic tràth | ||
Sepedi pele | ||
Serbian рано | ||
Sesotho pele ho nako | ||
Shona mangwanani | ||
Sindhi سوير | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) මුල් | ||
Slovak skoro | ||
Slovenian zgodaj | ||
Somali goor hore | ||
Spanish temprano | ||
Sundanese mimiti | ||
Swahili mapema | ||
Swedish tidigt | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) maaga | ||
Tajik барвақт | ||
Tamil ஆரம்ப | ||
Tatar иртә | ||
Telugu ప్రారంభ | ||
Thai ต้น | ||
Tigrinya ብግዘ | ||
Tsonga hi nkarhi | ||
Turkish erken | ||
Turkmen ir | ||
Twi (Akan) ntɛm | ||
Ukrainian рано | ||
Urdu جلدی | ||
Uyghur بالدۇر | ||
Uzbek erta | ||
Vietnamese sớm | ||
Welsh yn gynnar | ||
Xhosa kwangethuba | ||
Yiddish פרי | ||
Yoruba ni kutukutu | ||
Zulu ekuseni |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Vroeg" in Afrikaans, originally meant “first” and was derived from the Old English word “ær” meaning “early” or “before”. |
| Albanian | Herët may also mean "the morning" or "yesterday". |
| Amharic | "ቀድሞ" originated from the Ge'ez word "ቅም" in the sense of "former, ancient, primitive. It also means "before" to refer to temporal priority. |
| Arabic | The word "مبكرا" can also mean "quickly" or "hastily" in Arabic. |
| Armenian | "Վաղ" originates from Proto-Indo-European *wel- and is related to words like "will," "wish," and "voluntarily." |
| Azerbaijani | The word "erkən" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Proto-Turkic *ärk "morning" and has the alternate meaning of "dawn". |
| Basque | "Goiz" comes from the Latin "hora sexta" meaning the sixth hour (6am). |
| Belarusian | "Рана" is also the Belarusian word for "wound". |
| Bengali | The word "তাড়াতাড়ি" (early) in Bengali also means "quickly". |
| Bosnian | Rano can also refer to a small stream or a shallow, seasonal pool of water |
| Bulgarian | In addition to "early", "рано" can also mean "before" or "too soon". |
| Catalan | The word "aviat" in Catalan can also refer to a "short time". |
| Cebuano | Sa sayo may also mean "by you" or "in your hands," implying an earlier responsibility. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word “早” can also mean “to understand” or “to recognize”. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 早 can also mean morning, breakfast, or (with 人) a person in the early stages of life. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, 'prima' is a feminine adjective that refers to women from the same family unit. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "rano" originally meant "morning" or "dawn", but over time it came to be used to mean "early" in general. |
| Czech | The word "brzy" also means "soon". |
| Danish | The Danish word "tidlig" is cognate with the English word "tide," both deriving from the Proto-Germanic word "*tīdiz," meaning "time." |
| Dutch | "Vroeg" can also mean "in advance". |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "frue" is derived from the root "fru-", meaning "fruit". Thus, "frue" can also refer to the time of fruit-ripening, typically in the summer. |
| Estonian | The word "vara" in Estonian is cognate with the word "early" in English and shares the same Proto-Indo-European root "*wer-/*wr-/*wor" meaning "to turn, bend, twist". |
| Finnish | The word "aikaisin" also shares a root with "aika" (time) and "eilinen" (yesterday), implying a connection between time and the concept of earliness. |
| French | De bonne heure can also mean 'very well' in the expression "s'en tirer de bonne heure" |
| Frisian | The word "betiid" can also mean "soon" or "by and by" in Frisian. |
| Galician | Galician "cedo" derives from the Latin "citus" which means "quick" or "prompt" and is related to the English word "cite" |
| Georgian | The word "ადრე" also means "in the past" or "long ago". |
| German | "Früh" is also an old word for "spring" and can refer to a morning meal, or "breakfast." |
| Greek | The word "νωρίς" also means "quickly" in Cypriot Greek, and comes from the Old French word "norrisir" which means "to nourish". |
| Gujarati | "વહેલી" also means "quickly" in Gujarati, originating from the Sanskrit word "वेग" (vega), meaning "speed" or "velocity." |
| Haitian Creole | Bonè in Haitian Creole also means "early in the morning" or "overnight". |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "da wuri" can also mean "morning". |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian mythology, Wana'ao is also the name of a demigod associated with the underworld. |
| Hebrew | "מוקדם" can also mean "a part of an animal's foot between the hoof and the fetlock", likely from the root "קדם" meaning "in front". |
| Hindi | The Hindi word "शीघ्र" also means "quickly" and is related to the Sanskrit word "शीघ्रम्" (śīghram) meaning "speed". |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "thaum ntxov" can also refer to the "past" or "former times". |
| Hungarian | In ancient Egyptian, 'korai' referred to a statue of a young man, while in Japanese it means 'children' |
| Icelandic | Snemma is cognate with the modern German word for “fast,” “schnell, |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "n'isi" is derived from the word "isi," meaning "head" or "top," and connotes the idea of "the beginning" or "the foremost part" |
| Indonesian | "Dini" is also used in Indonesian to refer to someone who is religious or pious. |
| Irish | The alternate meaning of the Irish word 'go luath' is 'a fast movement', referring to its literal meaning 'fast' in Old Irish. |
| Italian | The Italian word "presto" has an alternate meaning of "at once," likely derived from the Latin word "praesto," meaning "present." |
| Japanese | 早い may also refer to a person's skill, talent, or experience. |
| Javanese | "Awal" in Javanese also means "first" or "the beginning". |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ಬೇಗ" can also refer to "fast" and "quickly". |
| Kazakh | Ерте (erte) can also mean "morning," "dawn," or "beginning," and may be cognate to the Turkish "erkän" and "erken," and may be an ancient Turkic loanword borrowed into Mongolian as "эрүг" (erug, "early, soon") and "эрүүр" (eruur, "before"). |
| Khmer | The word "ដើម" can also mean "origin", "beginning", or "source". |
| Korean | The word "이른" (ireun) can also refer to a "quick-tempered" or "hasty" person, possibly alluding to their tendency to act or respond impulsively. |
| Kurdish | In Kurmanji Kurdish, "zû" also connotes "raw," "unripe," or "unprocessed," suggesting a broader sense of undeveloped or unrefined states of being. |
| Kyrgyz | The word |
| Lao | The word "ຕົ້ນ" can also refer to the beginning of something, such as the beginning of a year or the beginning of a song. |
| Latin | The Latin word "mane" is also the ablative singular form of "manus" (meaning "hand"). |
| Latvian | "Agri" also means "in the morning" and is often used in compound words like "agripamakšs" (morning nap). |
| Lithuanian | Anksti is also the basis for the word ankstyvas, meaning 'ripe' or 'early-ripening' ('ankstus' in Latvian). |
| Luxembourgish | In the Moselle Franconian dialect, the word "fréi" can also mean "quickly" or "in advance". |
| Macedonian | Although the word "рано" generally means "early", it can also mean "early in the morning" or "at dawn". |
| Malagasy | "Tany am-boalohany" is a phrase consisting of "tany" which means land and "boalohany" which means morning; together it means "early in the morning". |
| Malay | The word "awal" is also the Arabic term for "first" and is used to translate "Alpha" in the Greek alphabet when used to number chapters in lists, such as an index, the outline of a book, or the headings of an encyclopedia. |
| Malayalam | The word "നേരത്തെ" in Malayalam, like the word "early" in English, can also mean "beforehand", "in advance", or "previously" |
| Maltese | The word "kmieni" is thought to be derived from an Arabic root, meaning "to be in advance of". |
| Maori | The word “moata” also means “beginning” or “in front” in Maori. |
| Marathi | While लवकर generally means early in Marathi, it is also a loanword from the Portuguese "laver", meaning to work, cultivate, or plow. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "эрт" can also refer to "yesterday" or "the day before yesterday", depending on the context. |
| Nepali | The word "प्रारम्भिक" in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word "प्रारम्भ," meaning "beginning" or "commencement." |
| Norwegian | The word "tidlig" originally meant "in time" and is related to the German word "zeitig" meaning "ripe". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The Nyanja word "molawirira" can mean "early" or, in a somewhat humorous context, "very fast or quickly." |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "وختي" (wakhtī) also means "early in the morning", particularly the time just after dawn. |
| Persian | The word "زود" (zūd) in Persian also means "quick" or "quickly". |
| Polish | The Polish word "wcześnie" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *včьsnъ, meaning "opportune" or "convenient". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "cedo" also means "to give up" or "to yield" in Latin and Portuguese. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਜਲਦੀ" in Punjabi can also mean "haste" or "quickly". |
| Romanian | In Romanian, "din timp" also means "in advance", "in good time", or "prematurely" |
| Russian | "Рано" can be derived from Slavic "orati" meaning "plow" and referring to the beginning of plowing season. |
| Samoan | The word "vave" can also mean "before" or "formerly" in Samoan. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "tràth" can also mean "time" or "occasion". |
| Serbian | The word "рано" can also mean "in the morning" and is derived from a Proto-Slavic term denoting "dawn" or "morning. |
| Sesotho | "Pele Ho Nako" is a Sesotho phrase meaning 'early' and is also a play on the word 'peleng', meaning the morning star, 'Venus', and a symbol for early rising. |
| Shona | The word "mangwanani" can also refer to the concept of dawn or daybreak. |
| Sindhi | The word "سوير" is also used as a reference to the morning meal in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | "මුල්" (early) can also refer to "beginning" or "root". |
| Slovak | The word "skoro" also means "almost" and can be used in combination with negative sentences to express "hardly". |
| Slovenian | The word "zgodaj" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *zъgodъ, meaning "convenient time" or "right time". |
| Somali | In Somali, "goor hore" can also mean "early-on" or "beforehand". |
| Spanish | Temprano can also mean "in time" or "soon" in Spanish, depending on the context. |
| Sundanese | The word "mimiti" also means "first" or "beginning" in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | "Mapema" also means "the day before yesterday" or "the day before that" in Swahili. |
| Swedish | "Tidigt" derives from "tid" meaning "time" and can also mean "soon" or "premature". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word 'maaga' is related to the Sanskrit word 'mr̥ga,' meaning 'search' or 'hunt,' suggesting its original connection to starting the day early for activities such as hunting. |
| Tajik | Originally, this word meant the dawn or first light of day. |
| Tamil | "ஆரம்ப" can also refer to the beginning of a new stage or phase in life. |
| Telugu | প্রারম্ভ (prāram̐bh) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'pra' (before) and 'ārambha' (beginning), hence meaning 'at the beginning'. |
| Thai | In Sanskrit, Thai 'ต้น' comes from 'tana' meaning 'to stretch' or 'to be pulled', which refers to the 'pulling' of time that occurs when something happens early. |
| Turkish | The word "erken" is derived from the Old Turkic word "erk" meaning "morning". |
| Ukrainian | The word "рано" can also mean "too early" or "in a hurry". |
| Urdu | "جلدی" is also used to express a negative connotation, describing something as rushed, unrefined, or lacking attention to detail. |
| Uzbek | The word "erta" can also mean "morning" or "dawn" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | Sớm in Vietnamese also means to ripen or to become mature. |
| Welsh | The word "yn gynnar" in Welsh is a compound of "yn" meaning "in" and "cynnar" meaning "first, foremost, or highest". |
| Xhosa | "Kwangethuba" is also used in Xhosa to refer to someone who is impatient or easily angered. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "פֿרי" originally derives from the Old High German word "fruo" which literally means "first". |
| Yoruba | Ni kutukutu' may also refer to the period between dawn and sunrise, as the sun emerges from the east, casting a warm and inviting glow upon its surroundings. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "ekuseni" also means "in the morning". |
| English | The word 'early' can also refer to the time of day just before dawn. |