"earlier use" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to something that has been used in the past. For example, "We found evidence of earlier use of this technology."
Earlier use for beta blockers?
Heart beat: Earlier use for beta blockers?
But the earlier use lessens the impact of Lincoln's joke).
During his first campaign for governor, in 1994, he was asked to quantify his earlier use.
While splashing about in the archives, I found an earlier use of swing voter, equally apt.
The survey found higher — and earlier — use of mobile devices among young children than previous studies.
We hypothesized that limb weakness and other markers of disease severity are associated with earlier use of assistive devices.
Earlier use of referral was observed in those who never underwent surgical cytoreduction or had interval cytoreductive surgery (p < 0.001).
The early clinical experience using both of the new stents are compared to the earlier use of the Palmaz stent.
I dunno about that; capitalization is not necessary in coinage, and quotation marks only would suggest an earlier use.
He defends his use of the term "landlord" without noting its earlier use by both Underwood and the Muirs.
