Join free

yesterday

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

yesterday

  • /ˈjɛstədeɪ/ UK
  • /ˈjɛstədɪ/ UK
  • /ˈjɪstədə/ Northumbria, UK
  • /ˈjɛstɹdeɪ/ US
  • /ˈjɛstɹdi/ US
  • /ˈjɪstɹdeɪ/ Southern US, dated, dialectal
  • /ˈjɪstɹdi/ Southern US, dated, dialectal

Where it comes from

From Middle English yesterday, yisterday, ȝesterdai, ȝisterdai, from Old English ġiestrandæġ, ġister dæġ, ġestor dæġ, ġeostran dæġ (“yesterday”), by surface analysis, yester- + day. Cognate with Scots yisterday, yesterday (“yesterday”), Saterland Frisian jässendeeg, järsendeges (“yesterday”, adverb), West Frisian justerdei (“yesterday”), Dutch gisterdag (“yesterday”), dialectal German gestertag (“yesterday”), Swedish gårdag (“yesterday”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃 (gistradagis, “tomorrow”, adverb). Compare further Dutch gisteren (“yesterday”), German gestern (“yesterday”).

noun yesterdays

  1. countable, uncountable The day immediately before today; one day ago. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow.
  2. countable, figuratively, uncountable The past, often in terms of being outdated. yesterday's technology

adverb

  1. not comparable On the day before today. I started to watch the video yesterday, but could only finish it this evening.

    Similar: the last day · Opposite: tomorrow

  2. informal, not comparable As soon as possible. I want this done yesterday!

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: today, day, yesteryear, here, there, past, last, this, night, late, haste, hurry, thursday, sunday, wednesday, monday

Translations

Every language

noun day before today

Españolayer
한국어어제 eoje, 작일 jagil
日本語昨日 kinō, 昨日 sakujitsu
中文昨天 zuótiān, 昨日 zuórì
हिन्दीकल kal, कलि kali
Kiswahilijana
Portuguêsontem
Françaishier
Deutschgestriger Tag, gestern
Italianoieri
Ελληνικάχθες chthes
Românăieri
Русскийвчера́ včerá
Tiếng Việthôm qua
العربيةأَمْس ʔams
עבריתאֶתְמוֹל 'etmól, אֶמֶשׁ 'émesh

noun the recent past

Kiswahilijana
Portuguêsontem
Românăieri
Русскийвчера včera

adv on the day before today

Españolayer
한국어어제 eoje, 작일 jagil
日本語昨日
中文昨天 zuótiān, 昨日 zuórì, 昨兒 /昨儿 zuór, 昨兒個 /昨儿个 zuórge
हिन्दीकल kal, काल kāl
Kiswahilijana
Portuguêsontem
Françaishier
Deutschgestern
Italianoieri
Ελληνικάχθες chthes
Românăieri
Русскийвчера́ včerá
العربيةأَمْسِ ʔamsi
עבריתאֶתְמוֹל 'etmól

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"yesterday." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/yesterday. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

yesterday. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/yesterday

Chicago

"yesterday." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/yesterday.

BibTeX
@misc{yesterday_2026,
  title = {yesterday},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/yesterday},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}