yesterday

yesterday

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of yesterday in English

English Online Dictionary. What means yesterday‎? What does yesterday mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English yesterday, yisterday, ȝesterdai, ȝisterdai, from Old English ġiestrandæġ, ġister dæġ, ġestor dæġ, ġeostran dæġ, equivalent to yester- +‎ day; see there for more. Compare Scots yisterday, yesterday (yesterday), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃 (gistradagis, tomorrow, adverb). Compare further Dutch gisteren, German gestern.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈjɛstədeɪ/, /ˈjɛstədɪ/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈjɛstɚdeɪ/, /ˈjɛstɚdi/
  • (dated, Southern US folk speech) IPA(key): /ˈjɪstɚdeɪ/, /ˈjɪstɚdi/

Noun

yesterday (plural yesterdays)

  1. The day immediately before today; one day ago.
  2. (figuratively) The past, often in terms of being outdated.

Usage notes

  • The plural yesterdays is unusual and often poetic for the recent past, e.g. “all our yesterdays have come back to haunt us”.
  • While pronunciations with /ˈjɪ-/ are now dialectal, they were formerly found in the standard language. For example, writer and orthoepist Thomas Sheridan prescribed such a pronunciation in his work.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

yesterday (not comparable)

  1. On the day before today.
    Synonym: (Ireland) the last day
    Antonym: tomorrow
  2. (informal) As soon as possible.

Related terms

Translations

See also

  • hesternal
  • last night
  • nudiustertian
  • today
  • tomorrow night
  • tonight

References

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • ȝusterday, ȝurstendæi, ȝisterday, yisterday, ȝesterdai, yusterday, ȝerstendæi, yurstai

Etymology

From Old English ġiestrandæġ; equivalent to yester- +‎ day.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈjɛstərdæi/, /ˈjistərdæi/, /ˈjustərdæi/

Adverb

yesterday

  1. On the preceding day
  2. At another preceding point in time; in the past

Noun

yesterday

  1. The preceding day; yesterday
  2. A preceding point in time; the past

Descendants

  • English: yesterday
  • Scots: ȝisterday, ȝesterday
  • Yola: yersthei, yerstei, yerstey

References

  • “yester-dai, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-20.

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.