Adverb
1. earlier in time; previously;
"I had known her before""as I said before""he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier""her parents had died four years earlier""I mentioned that problem earlier"2. comparatives of `soon' or `early';
"Come a little sooner, if you can""came earlier than I expected"3. before now;
"why didn't you tell me in the first place?"