Etymologically
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yesterday

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈjes.tə.deɪ/, /ˈjes.tə.di/, US /ˈjes.tɚ.deɪ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English yisterday,[2][3] inherited from Old English ġeostran dæġ, a compound of ġeostran (“yesterday”) and dæġ “day”,[4][3][2] the source of yester- and day.[4][5] Old English ġeostran is found by itself only once,[3] but it has cognates in Dutch gisteren and German gestern, from Proto-Germanic *gestra-,[3] and outside Germanic in Latin herī “yesterday” and hesternus, Greek khthés and Sanskrit hyás, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰyés.[3][2] Other Germanic languages tend to use their form of yester- alone; the only known parallel compound is Gothic gistradagis, which meant “tomorrow”.[4][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adverb, “on the day before today”: Old English, about 950;[3][7] the noun is from about 1000.[3][7] Old English ġeostran is found about 725, in Beowulf.[3]

Semantic evolution

The transferred sense “a short time ago, recent times” is from the late 14th century,[4] 1387 for the adverb and 1382 for the noun in the OED.[7] Yesterday's man, a politician whose career is over, is from 1966,[7] and to want something yesterday, “immediately”, by 1974.[4][7] Yesteryear was coined by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1870, translating Villon's antan.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English ġeostran.[3]
  • c. 950 – adverb, on the day before.[3][7]
  • c. 1000 – noun.[3][7]
  • late 14th century – recent times.[4]
  • 1870 – yesteryear.[3]
  • 1966 – yesterday's man.[7]
  • 1974 – want it yesterday.[4][7]

Modern meaning

Adverb

  1. On the day before today.
  2. A short time ago; in the recent past.

Noun

  1. The day before today.
  2. The recent past.
  3. yesterdays: Past times.

Word family

  • yesterdayness
  • yester
  • yesterevening
  • yestern
  • yesternight
  • yesternoon
  • yesteryear
  • yestreen
  • yester-
  • day

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press