Peer almost ahead of time (4)
I believe the answer is:
earl
'peer' is the definition.
(earl is a kind of peer)
'almost ahead of time' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (almost the whole word is kept).
'ahead of time' becomes 'early' (synonyms).
'early' with its final letter removed is 'EARL'.
(Other definitions for earl that I've seen before include "Jimmy Carter's middle name" , "Real kind of English lord" , "Real (anag) - nobleman" , "Count" , "Countesss husband" .)