early vs precedent

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. 

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

  • Soon; in good time; seasonably. 

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

precedent

adj
  • Happening or taking place earlier in time; previous or preceding. 

verb
  • To provide precedents for. 

  • To be a precedent for. 

noun
  • The previous version. 

  • A decided case which is cited or used as an example to justify a judgment in a subsequent case. 

  • An established habit or custom. 

  • An act in the past which may be used as an example to help decide the outcome of similar instances in the future. 

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