Is it early arthritis if painful joints at 50?

Depends: "arthritis" means joint inflammation. There are many causes of joint inflammation that can occur at any age and there are many causes of joint pain without inflammation. You should see your primary care doctor to start an evaluation if you've had joint pain for more than a few weeks that isn't going away.

Possibly: There are many reasons for jointr pain, especially at this age. Arthirits is one cause but joint pain could come with infectious diseases or in response to certain medications. Clues for arthritis include persistent pain in the joints, swelling and morning stiffness. If symptoms persist for more than 10 days you should seek medical attention.

Painful joints...: Means arthritis. While some people erroneously consider degenerative arthritis non-inflammatory, it does have an inflammatory component and may have been caused by joint niflammation.