downstream vs earlier

downstream

adv
  • Following the path of a river or stream 

verb
  • To stream downward. 

adj
  • Further along in the flow of current, in relation to a river, stream, bloodstream, or other flow of fluid. 

  • In the direction from the server to the client. 

  • Towards the 3′ end of a DNA molecule. 

  • Occurring later than something else; (also, usually, especially) influenced by something else; being a consequence of something else. 

earlier

adj
  • occurring previously 

adv
  • previously; before now; sooner 

How often have the words downstream and earlier occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )