The difference between Early and Premature

When used as nouns, early means a shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day, whereas premature means an infant born prematurely.

When used as adjectives, early means at a time in advance of the usual or expected event, whereas premature means occurring before a state of readiness or maturity has arrived.


Early is also adverb with the meaning: at a time before expected.

check bellow for the other definitions of Early and Premature

  1. Early as an adjective:

    At a time in advance of the usual or expected event.

    Examples:

    "at eleven, we went for an early lunch; she began reading at an early age; his mother suffered an early death"

  2. Early as an adjective:

    Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time.

    Examples:

    "You're early today! I don't usually see you before nine o'clock."

    "The early guests sipped their punch and avoided each other's eyes."

  3. Early as an adjective:

    Near the start or beginning.

    Examples:

    "The play "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's early works."

    "'Early results showed their winning 245 out of 300 seats in parliament. The main opponent locked up only 31 seats."

  4. Early as an adjective:

    Having begun to occur; in its early stages.

    Examples:

    "'early cancer"

  1. Early as an adverb:

    At a time before expected; sooner than usual.

    Examples:

    "We finished the project an hour sooner than scheduled, so we left early."

  2. Early as an adverb:

    Soon; in good time; seasonably.

  1. Early as a noun (informal):

    A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place early in the day.

  1. Premature as an adjective:

    Occurring before a state of readiness or maturity has arrived.

    Examples:

    "a premature birth"

    "premature reports of the singer's death"

  2. Premature as an adjective:

    Taking place earlier than anticipated, prepared for, or desired.

  3. Premature as an adjective (informal):

    Suffering from premature ejaculation.

  1. Premature as a noun:

    An infant born prematurely.

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