hesternus

Latin

From Proto-Italic *hesternos, *hesterinos,^[1] or *hestrinos,^[2] in any case a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰyes-ter- with apheresis of *dʰ- and *-y- from the initial consonant cluster *dʰǵʰy-. Equivalent to herī +‎ -ter +‎ -nus. Cognate with English yester-, German gestern and Dutch gisteren.

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [hɛsˈtɛr.nʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [esˈtɛr.nus]
The fourth-century grammarian Marius Victorinus claims this word is correctly pronounced with a long vowel, although it is unclear what the basis for this statement is or even what syllable is meant (since a long vowel in either the first or second syllable appears etymologically unsupported). Szemerényi 1959 argues a pronunciation hestērnus might have been created by analogy to vērnus, which Szemerényi derives from *vērinos.^[1]

hesternus (feminine hesterna, neuter hesternum); first/second-declension adjective

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	hesternus	hesterna	hesternum	hesternī	hesternae	hesterna
genitive	hesternī	hesternae	hesternī	hesternōrum	hesternārum	hesternōrum
dative	hesternō	hesternae	hesternō	hesternīs
accusative	hesternum	hesternam	hesternum	hesternōs	hesternās	hesterna
ablative	hesternō	hesternā	hesternō	hesternīs
vocative	hesterne	hesterna	hesternum	hesternī	hesternae	hesterna

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Szemerényi, Oswald (1959), “Latin hībernus and Greek χειμερινός”, in Glotta, volume 38, pages 112-113
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “heri”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 283

“hesternus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“hesternus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"hesternus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
“hesternus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- yesterday, to-day, tomorrow: dies hesternus, hodiernus, crastinus