tidligste

Tidligste is the superlative form of the Danish and Norwegian adjective tidlig, meaning early. It is used to indicate that something is the earliest in a sequence or among a group of items or events. The form is typically employed when the noun it modifies is plural or when using a definite noun phrase, for example den tidligste dag or de tidligste dage, meaning “the earliest day” or “the earliest days.”

In everyday usage, tidligste appears in contexts where a highest priority of time is being described, such as timelines, historical sequences, or project milestones. The general comparative form of tidlig is tidligere (earlier), while the adverbial superlative often appears as tidligst, used without a following noun to mean “earliest.” Tidligste, by contrast, tends to be chosen when the noun is explicit and either plural or definite.

Etymology traces tidligste to the root tid, meaning time, combined with the suffix -lig, which forms adjectives meaning “having the nature of.” The superlative endings in Danish and Norwegian have developed over time, with tidligste serving as the standard way to express “the earliest” in numerous modern texts.

See also: tidlig, tidligere, tidligst. Notes on usage may vary between Danish and Norwegian dialects and are influenced by whether the noun is singular or plural, definite or indefinite. Overall, tidligste is a common, neutral term used to mark the earliest position in a set.