Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Yesterday
Yes′ter-day
,Noun.
[OE.
ȝisterdai
, AS. geostran dæg
, from geostran
, geostra
, giestran
, gistran
, gystran
, yesterday (akin to D. gisteren
, G. gestern
, OHG. gestaron
, Icel. gær
yesterday, to-morrow, Goth. gistradagis
to-morrow, L. heri
yesterday, Gr. [GREEK], Skr. hyas
) + dæg
day. Cf. Hestern
. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK].] 1.
The day last past; the day next before the present.
All our
The way to dusty death.
yesterdays
have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death.
Shakespeare
We are but of
yesterday
, and know nothing. Job viii. 9.
2.
Fig.: A recent time; time not long past.
The proudest royal houses are but of
yesterday
, when compared with the line of supreme pontiffs. Macaulay.
Yes′ter-day
,adv.
On the day last past; on the day preceding to-day;
as, the affair took place
. yesterday
Webster 1828 Edition
Yesterday
YESTERDAY
,Noun.
1.
The day last past; the day next before the present.All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
We are but of yesterday, and know nothing. Job 8.
2.
Yesterday is used generally without a preposition; as, I went to town yesterday. Yesterday we received letters from our friends. In this ease, a preposition is understood; as on yesterday, or during yesterday. The word may be considered as adverbially used.Definition 2024
yesterday
yesterday
English
Noun
yesterday (plural yesterdays)
- The day immediately before today; one day ago.
- Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow.
- Yesterday was rainy, but by this morning it had begun to snow.
- 1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish:
- Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …
- The (recent) past, often disparaging.
- yesterday's technology
- 1606 William Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5.5
- All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
- 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
- Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.
Usage notes
- The term yesterdays is unusual and often poetic for the recent past, e.g. "all our yesterdays have come back to haunt us."
Derived terms
Translations
day before today
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the recent past
Adverb
yesterday (not comparable)
- On the day before today
- I started to watch the video yesterday, but could only finish it this evening.
- As soon as possible
- I want this done yesterday!
Synonyms
- the last day (Ireland)
Antonyms
Related terms
Related terms
Translations
on the day before today
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