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. Compare Scots yisterday, yesterday (“yesterday”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃 (gistradagis, “tomorrow”, adverb). Compare further Dutch gisteren, German gestern. By surface analysis, yester- + day.
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)
- The day immediately before today; one day ago.
- (figuratively) The past, often in terms of being outdated.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)
- On the day before today.
- Synonym: (Ireland) the last day
- Antonym: tomorrow
- (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
- On the preceding day
- At another preceding point in time; in the past
Noun
yesterday
- The preceding day; yesterday
- 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.