yearbook

Etymology

It is a compound from English year + book.^[2][3][4][5] The OED compares Dutch jaarboek (“chronicle, annual record”) (1573), Middle Low German jārbōk (“account book”), Old High German jārbuoh (“chronicle”) and German Jahrbuch, and notes that Latin annālēs (“annals”) may have influenced some of these formations.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In law, one of the books of reports of cases in the English courts, kept from the late 13th or early 14th century to the reign of Henry VIII: 1579, in a new edition of Rastell's dictionary of legal terms.^[2][4] Etymonline dates it to the 1580s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Lord Berners had already used yere bokes before 1533 for the annals of Livy, a loan translation of Latin annālēs.^[2] From 1668 a yearbook could be a book about the year as a period of time, with its days, seasons and anniversaries;^[2] since 1674 it has also meant an annual publication giving information about the previous year, usually for a particular subject, group or institution;^[2] Etymonline dates the latter sense to 1710.^[3] In the United States, from 1910, it became an album published each year by a school or college, with photographs of its students, especially the graduating class.^[2][3][4]

Timeline

• 1579 – a book of reports of English law cases.^[2]
• 1668 – a book about the year, with its divisions and anniversaries.^[2]
• 1674 – an annual publication with information about the past year.^[2]
• 1677 – first known use according to Merriam-Webster.^[6]
• 1910 – originally in the US, a school or college album of the year's students.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A book published every year with facts, statistics and reports about the previous year, often for a particular field or organization: the club's yearbook.^[7][6][2]
2. Chiefly in North America, a book published each year by a school or college, with photographs of its students, especially the graduating class.^[6][2][4]
3. (historical) One of the volumes of reports of cases heard in the courts of law of England between the late 13th century and the 1530s.^[2][4]

Related words

• year
• book

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins