early vs on time

early

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

  • Near the start or beginning. 

  • Near the start of the day. 

  • Having begun to occur; in its early stages. 

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

  • 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. 

on time

adj
  • Punctual or according to schedule. 

prep
  • By installments, payments over a period of time. 

  • By a player's running out of time. 

  • Punctually or according to the schedule. 

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