early vs further

early

adj
  • Arriving a time before expected; sooner than on time. 

  • Near the start or beginning. 

  • Near the start of the day. 

  • Having begun to occur; in its early stages. 

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

  • Of a star or class of stars, hotter than the sun. 

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

adv
  • At a time before expected; sooner than usual. 

  • Soon; in good time; seasonably. 

further

adj
  • More distant; relatively distant. 

  • More, additional. 

verb
  • To help forward; to assist. 

  • To encourage growth; to support progress or growth of something; to promote. 

adv
  • To a greater extent or degree. 

  • Beyond what is already stated or is already the case. 

  • Also; in addition; furthermore; moreover. 

  • Following on (from). 

  • To, at or over a greater distance in space, time or other extent. 

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