yesterday

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈjɛstədeɪ/, /ˈjɛstədɪ/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈjɛstɹdeɪ/, /ˈjɛstɹdi/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (dated, Southern US folk speech) IPA^(key): /ˈjɪstɹdeɪ/, /ˈjɪstɹdi/
• Hyphenation: yes‧ter‧day

Noun

yesterday (plural yesterdays)

1. 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 …

   • 1965, Paul McCartney, “Yesterday”, in Help!:

     Yesterday / All my troubles seemed so far away / Now it looks as though they're here to stay / Oh, I believe in yesterday

2. (figuratively) The past, often in terms of being outdated.

   yesterday's technology

   The worker of today is different from that of yesterday.

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:

     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 plural yesterdays is unusual and often poetic for the recent past, e.g. “all our yesterdays have come back to haunt us”.
• While pronunciations with /ˈjɪ-/ are now dialectal, they were formerly found in the standard language. For example, writer and orthoepist Thomas Sheridan prescribed such a pronunciation in his work.

Derived terms

• born yesterday
• day before yesterday
• ereyesterday
• remember like it was yesterday
• yesterday but one
• yesterday is gone
• yesterday night
• yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
• yesterday-today-tomorrow

Translations

day before today

• Afar: kimal
• Afrikaans: gister (af)
• Ainu: ヌマン (numan)
• Albanian: dje (sq)
• Aleut: yam
• Amharic: ትናንት (tənant), ትናንትና (tənantəna)
• Andi: суни (suni)
• Ao: yashi (Chungli)
• Arabic: أَمْس (ʔams)

  Chadian Arabic: أمس (ʔamis)

  Cypriot Arabic: imps

  Egyptian Arabic: امبارح (imbāriḥ)

  Hijazi Arabic: أمس (ʔams)

  Moroccan Arabic: البارح (el-bāriḥ)

  South Levantine Arabic: مبارح (mbāreḥ, mbēreḥ)

• Aragonese: ahier
• Armenian: երեկ (hy) (erek)

  Old Armenian: երէկ (erēk)

• Aromanian: aeri, aieri, ieri, eri, asearã
• Assamese: কালি (kali) (may refer to tomorrow, depending on the context), যোৱাকালি (züakali)
• Asturian: ayeri (ast) m
• Avar: сон (son)
• Azerbaijani: dünən (az), dün (az)
• Baluchi: زی (zí)
• Bashkir: кисә (kisə), кисәге (kisəge)
• Basque: atzo (eu)
• Belarusian: учо́ра (učóra), ўчо́ра (wčóra)
• Bengali: গতকাল (bn) (gotokal)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: kasu-udma, kasuhapon

• Bislama: yestedei
• Bulgarian: вче́ра (bg) (včéra)
• Burmese: မနေ့က (ma.ne.ka.)
• Catalan: ahir (ca)
• Cebuano: gahapon
• Chechen: селхана (selxana)
• Chickasaw: oblaashaash
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 琴日 (yue) (kam⁴ jat⁶), 尋日 / 寻日 (yue) (cam⁴ jat⁶), 昨日 (yue) (zok³ jat⁶)

  Eastern Min: 昨暝 (sŏ̤h-màng)

  Hakka: 昨晡日 (chô-pû-ngit)

  Hokkien: 昨昏 (zh-min-nan) (cha-hng, cha̍h-hng, chah-hng, chăng), 昨日 (zh-min-nan) (cha-ji̍t, cha-li̍t, cha̍h-ji̍t, cha̍h-li̍t, cho̍h-ji̍t, cho̍h-li̍t), 昨暗 (zh-min-nan) (cha-àm)

  Mandarin: 昨天 (zh) (zuótiān), 昨日 (zh) (zuórì)

  Wu: 昨日 (zoq nyiq, zo nyiq)

• Chuvash: ӗнер (ĕner)
• Comorian:

  Ndzwani Comorian: vojana

  Ngazidja Comorian: djana

• Crimean Tatar: dün, tünevin
• Czech: včerejšek (cs) m
• Dalmatian: jere
• Danish: i går (da)
• Dutch: gisteren (nl)
• Egyptian: (sf)
• Esperanto: hieraŭ (eo)
• Estonian: eile (et), eilnepäev
• Faroese: í gjár, gjárdagur m
• Fijian: nanoa (fj)
• Finnish: eilinen (fi), eilispäivä (fi)
• French: hier (fr)
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: juster (fy)

• Friulian: îr
• Galician: onte (gl)
• Georgian: გუშინ (gušin)
• German: gestriger Tag, gestern (de)
• Greek: χθες (el) (chthes)

  Ancient Greek: χθές (khthés)

• Greenlandic: ippassaq
• Gujarati: ગઈ કાલ f (gaī kāl)
• Hebrew: אֶתְמוֹל (he) ('etmól), (formally or poetic) אֶמֶשׁ (he) ('émesh)
• Higaonon: gabi-a
• Hindi: कल (hi) (kal) (may refer to tomorrow, depending on the context), कलि (hi) (kali)
• Hungarian: tegnap (hu)
• Hunsrik: gester
• Icelandic: gærdagur (often with a definite article; gærdagurinn; the adverb í gær is much more frequently used than the noun equivalent)
• Indonesian: kemarin (id)
• Ingrian: egliin päivä, eglelliin päivä
• Ingush: селхан (selxan)
• Interlingua: heri (ia)
• Inuktitut: ᐃᑉᐸᒃᓴᖅ (ippaksaq)
• Irish: inné (ga)
• Istriot: ièri
• Italian: ieri (it) m
• Japanese: 昨日 (ja) (きのう, kinō), 昨日 (ja) (さくじつ, sakujitsu)
• Kaingang: rãké tá
• Kaitag: са (sa)
• Kannada: ನಿನ್ನೆ (kn) (ninne)
• Kapampangan: napun
• Kashmiri: راتھ (ks) (rāth)
• Kazakh: кеше (keşe)
• Khmer: ម្សិលមិញ (msəl mɨñ), ថ្ងៃម្សិល (tngay msəl), ម្សិល (km) (msəl)
• Konkani: कालि (kāli)
• Korean: 어제 (ko) (eoje), 작일 (ko) (jagil)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: duhî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: кечээ (ky) (kecee)
• Ladin: inier m
• Lakota: htalehã
• Lao: ມື້ວານ (lo) (mư̄ wān)
• Latin: heri (la), hesternus
• Latvian: vakar (lv), vakardiena f
• Laz: ღომა (ğoma)
• Ligurian: vêi m
• Lingala: lobi
• Lithuanian: vakar (lt), vakardiena f, vakarykštė diena f
• Livonian: eggiļ
• Lombard: jer (lmo) m
• Luganda: jjo
• Luxembourgish: gëschter (lb)
• Macanese: onte
• Macedonian: вче́ра (včéra)
• Malay: semalam (ms) (Peninsular West Coast incl. KL), kelmarin (ms), kemarin (Kedah, Pen. East Coast, Sabah, Brunei)
• Malayalam: ഇന്നലെ (ml) (innale)
• Maltese: bieraħ, ilbieraħ m
• Manobo:

  Western Bukidnon Manobo: gevi'i

• Mansaka: kagabi
• Māori: nanahi
• Marathi: काल (kāl)
• Middle English: yesterday
• Mizo: nimin
• Mongo: lobi
• Mongolian: өчигдөр (mn) (öčigdör)
• Nauruan: ngago nane, nanahi
• Navajo: adą́ą́dą́ą́ʼ
• Norman: hièr (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gårsdag (no) m

  Nynorsk: gårdag m, gårsdag m

• Occitan: ièr (oc)
• Odia: ଗତକାଲି (or) (gatakāli)
• Ojibwe: bijiinaago
• Oromo: kaleessa
• Papiamentu: ayera (á)
• Pashto: پرون (ps) (pron)
• Persian: دیروز (fa) (diruz)
• Piedmontese: ier m
• Polabian: ceră f
• Polish: wczoraj (pl) n
• Portuguese: ontem (pt)
• Quechua: qayna
• Romanian: ieri (ro)
• Romansh: ier, her
• Russian: вчера́ (ru) (včerá)
• Saho: kumal
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: ievttá

  Skolt Sami: jåhtta

  Southern Sami: jååktan

• Samoan: ananafi
• Sanskrit: ह्यस् (sa) (hyás)
• Sardinian: aiseru, deris
• Scots: yestreen
• Scottish Gaelic: an-dè
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ју̀че̄р, ју̀че

  Latin: jùčēr (sh), jùčē (sh)

• Shona: nezuro
• Sicilian: aieri (scn)
• Sidamo: bero
• Sikkimese: ཁ་སང (kha sang)
• Sindhi: ڪلهه (sd) f (kalha)
• Sinhalese: ඊයේ (si) (īyē)
• Slovak: včera (sk)
• Slovene: včéraj (sl)
• Somali: shalay
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: cora

  Upper Sorbian: wčera

• Sotho: maobane (st)
• Spanish: ayer (es)
• Svan: ლა̄თ (lāt)
• Swahili: jana (sw)
• Swedish: gårdag (sv), i går (sv)
• Sylheti: ꠇꠣꠁꠟ (xail) (may refer to tomorrow, depending on the context)
• Tagalog: kahapon
• Tajik: дирӯз (tg) (dirüz)
• Tamil: நேற்று (ta) (nēṟṟu)
• Tarantino: ajère
• Tatar: кичә (tt) (kiçä)
• Telugu: నిన్న (te) (ninna)
• Thai: เมื่อวานนี้ (mʉ̂ʉa-waan-níi)
• Tibetan: ཁ་སང (kha sang)
• Tok Pisin: asde (tpi)
• Tswana: maabane
• Turkish: dün (tr)
• Turkmen: düýn
• Ukrainian: учо́ра (učóra), вчо́ра (uk) (včóra)
• Urdu: کل (kal) (may refer to tomorrow, depending on the context)
• Uyghur: تۈنۈگۈن (tünügün)
• Uzbek: kecha (uz), kechagi (uz)
• Venda: mulovha, mba-mulovha
• Venetan: geri
• Vietnamese: hôm qua (vi)
• Volapük: ädel (vo)
• Votic: egle
• Vurës: nonor
• Welsh: ddoe
• Woiwurrung: yollinkoe
• Wolof: démb (wo), demba
• Xhosa: izolo
• Yaghnobi: пиён (piyon)
• Yakut: бэҕэһээ (beğehee)
• Yao (Africa): liiso
• Yiddish: נעכטן (nekhtn)
• Yup'ik: unuamek, akwaugaq
• Zazaki: vızêr (diq)
• Zhuang: ngoenzlwenz, ngoenzvaz, ŋɵnƨlɯenƨ
• Zulu: izolo class 5

the recent past

• Armenian: երեկ (hy) (erek)
• Asturian: ayeri (ast) m
• Catalan: dia d'ahir m
• Finnish: eilinen (fi), eilispäivä (fi)
• Galician: onte (gl)
• Icelandic: gærdagur m (often with a definite article; gærdagurinn)
• Middle English: yesterday
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forleden dag

• Portuguese: ontem (pt)
• Romanian: ieri (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: an latha an-dè
• Swahili: jana (sw)
• Swedish: gårdag (sv) c
• Turkish: dün (tr)
• Zazaki: vızêr (diq)

Adverb

yesterday (not comparable)

1. On the day before today.

   Synonym: (Ireland) the last day

   Antonym: tomorrow

   I started to watch the video yesterday, but could only finish it this evening.

2. (informal) As soon as possible.

   I want this done yesterday!

   I need it yesterday!

   • 2026 February 16, Katya Adler, Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast (BBC) [3]

     "Europeans need to get to work yesterday and to focus," she says. "They have 5-10 years to stand on their own two feet in terms of conventional defence capabilities."

Related terms

• yester
• yesterevening
• yestern
• yesternight
• yesternoon
• yestersol
• yesteryear
• yestreen

Translations

on the day before today

• Afrikaans: gister (af)
• Albanian: dje (sq)
• Alviri-Vidari: (Vidari) ایزیره (izzire)
• Amharic: ትናንትና (tənantəna)
• Amuzgo:

  Guerrero Amuzgo: bja

• Arabic: أَمْسِ (ʔamsi)

  Chadian Arabic: أمس (ʔamis)

  Egyptian Arabic: امبارح (imbāraḥ)

  Moroccan Arabic: البارح (el-bāriḥ)

• Armenian: երեկ (hy) (erek)

  Old Armenian: երէկ (erēk)

• Asturian: ayeri (ast)
• Avar: сон (son)
• Azerbaijani: dünən (az), dün (az), ötən gün (formal)
• Bashkir: кисә (kisə)
• Basque: atzo (eu)
• Belarusian: учо́ра (učóra), ўчо́ра (wčóra)
• Breton: dec'h (br)
• Bulgarian: вче́ра (bg) (včéra)
• Burmese: မနေ့က (ma.ne.ka.)
• Buryat: үсэгэлдэр (üsegelder)
• Carpathian Rusyn: вче́ра (včéra), уче́ра (učéra), вчо́ра (včóra), учо́ра (učóra)
• Catalan: ahir (ca)
• Cebuano: gahapon
• Chamicuro: likajpe'ta
• Chechen: селхана (selxana)
• Chichewa: dzulo
• Chickasaw: oblaashaash
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 尋日 / 寻日 (yue) (cam⁴ jat⁶), 琴日 (yue) (kam⁴ jat⁶), 昨天 (zok³ tin¹)

  Dungan: зуәр (zuər), зуәргә (zuərgə), ели (i͡əli), елигә (i͡əligə)

  Eastern Min: 昨暝 (sŏ̤h-màng)

  Gan: 昨日 ('coh⁷ nyit⁶)

  Hakka: 昨晡日 (chhô-pû-ngit)

  Hokkien: 昨昏 (zh-min-nan) (cha-hng)

  Jin: 夜天 (ie³ tie¹)

  Mandarin: 昨天 (zh) (zuótiān), 昨日 (zh) (zuórì) (literary), 昨兒 / 昨儿 (zh) (zuór), 昨兒個 / 昨儿个 (zh) (zuórge)

  Northern Min: 隔暝 (gă-mâng), 昨暝 (ciā-mâng)

  Wu: 昨日 (⁸zoq-gniq; ⁶zo-gniq)

  Xiang: 昨日 (zo² r⁶)

• Chuvash: ӗнер (ĕner)
• Comorian:

  Ngazidja Comorian: djana

• Cornish: de
• Crimean Tatar: dün, tünevin
• Czech: včera (cs)
• Dalmatian: jere
• Danish: i går (da)
• Dutch: gisteren (nl)
• Egyptian: (sf)
• Esperanto: hieraŭ (eo)
• Estonian: eile (et)
• Extremaduran: ayel
• Faroese: í gjár
• Finnish: eilen (fi), eilispäivänä (fi)
• French: hier (fr)
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: juster (fy)

• Friulian: îr
• Georgian: გუშინ (gušin)
• German: gestern (de)
• Greek: χθες (el) (chthes)

  Ancient Greek: χθές (khthés)

• Greenlandic: ippassaq
• Gujarati: ગઇકાલે (gaikāle)
• Gurani: ھیزی (hîzî)
• Haitian Creole: yè
• Hebrew: אֶתְמוֹל (he) ('etmól)
• Hindi: कल (hi) (kal) (may refer to tomorrow, depending on the context), काल (hi) (kāl)
• Hungarian: tegnap (hu)
• Icelandic: í gær (is)
• Ido: hiere (io)
• Indonesian: kemarin (id)
• Ingrian: egle
• Interlingua: heri (ia)
• Irish: inné (ga)
• Istriot: ièri
• Italian: ieri (it) m
• Japanese: 昨日 (ja) (きのう, kinō; さくじつ, sakujitsu)
• Kannada: ನಿನ್ನೆ (kn) (ninne)
• Kazakh: кеше (keşe)
• Khmer: ម្សិល (km) (msəl), ពីម្សិលមិញ (pii msəl mɨñ), ថ្ងៃម្សិលមិញ (thngay msəl mɨñ)
• Komi:

  Komi-Permyak: тӧн (tön)

• Korean: 어제 (ko) (eoje), 작일(昨日) (ko) (jagil)
• Kyrgyz: кечээ (ky) (kecee)
• Lakota: ^{(please verify)} htalehã
• Lao: ມື້ວານ (lo) (mư̄ wān)
• Latin: heri (la), here (la)
• Latvian: vakar (lv)
• Lithuanian: vakar (lt)
• Livonian: eggiļ
• Lower Tanana: k'ode'onh
• Lutuv: avuochaning
• Luxembourgish: gëschter (lb)
• Macanese: onte
• Macedonian: вче́ра (včéra)
• Malay: semalam (ms) (Peninsular West Coast incl. KL), kelmarin (ms) (Kedah, Pen. East Coast, Sabah, Brunei)
• Malayalam: ഇന്നലെ (ml) (innale)
• Maltese: lbieraħ
• Mansi:

  Northern Mansi: ^{(please verify)} молхо̄тал (molhōtal)

• Manx: jea
• Marathi: काल (kāl)
• Middle English: yesterday
• Mòcheno: gester
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: өчигдөр (mn) (öčigdör)

  Mongolian script: ᠥᠴᠦᠭᠡᠳᠦᠷ (öčügedür)

• Nanai: чисэниэ (čisenie)
• Navajo: adą́ą́dą́ą́ʼ
• Neapolitan: ajere
• Ngan'gityemerri: kultyinimbi
• Norman: hiaer (Guernsey), hièr (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: i går (no)

  Nynorsk: i går

• Occitan: ièr (oc)
• Odia: ଗତକାଲି (or) (gatakāli)
• Ojibwe: bijiinaago
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: вьчера (vĭčera)

• Old East Slavic: вьчера (vĭčera)
• Old English: geostran
• Ossetian: знон (znon)
• Pannonian Rusyn: вчера (včera)
• Papiamentu: ayera
• Pashto: پرون (ps) (parún)
• Persian:

  Dari: دِیروز (dīrōz)

  Iranian Persian: دیروز (fa) (diruz)

• Pipil: yalua
• Polish: wczoraj (pl)
• Portuguese: ontem (pt)
• Punjabi: ਕੱਲ੍ਹ (kallh)
• Romanian: ieri (ro)
• Romansh: ier
• Russian: вчера́ (ru) (včerá)
• Rwanda-Rundi: ejo
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: ikte

• Sanskrit: ह्यस् (sa) (hyás)
• Scottish Gaelic: an-dè
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ју̀че̄р, ју̀че

  Latin: jùčēr (sh), jùčē (sh)

• Sicilian: aieri (scn)
• Sindhi: ڪلهه (sd) f (kalha)
• Sinhalese: ඊයේ (si) (īyē)
• Slovak: včera (sk)
• Slovene: včeraj (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: cora

  Upper Sorbian: wčera

• Spanish: ayer (es) m
• Swahili: jana (sw)
• Swedish: i går (sv), igår (sv)
• Tagalog: kahapon
• Tajik: дирӯз (tg) (dirüz)
• Talysh: (Asalemi) ایزر (izər)
• Tamil: நேற்று (ta) (nēṟṟu)
• Tarantino: ajère
• Tatar: кичә (tt) (kiçä)
• Telugu: నిన్న (te) (ninna)
• Thai: เมื่อวานนี้ (mʉ̂ʉa-waan-níi)
• Tibetan: ཁེ་སང (khe sang), ཁ་སང (kha sang)
• Tigrinya: ትማሊ (ti) (təmali)
• Tok Pisin: asde (tpi)
• Turkish: dün (tr)
• Turkmen: düýn
• Ukrainian: учо́ра (učóra), вчо́ра (uk) (včóra)
• Urdu: کَل (kal) (may refer to tomorrow, depending on the context), دِیروز (dīroz)
• Uyghur: تۈنۈگۈن (tünügün)
• Uzbek: kecha (uz), kechagi (uz)
• Venetan: geri
• Volapük: ädelo (vo)
• Welsh: ddoe
• Yiddish: נעכטן (nekhtn)
• Zhuang: ngoenzlwenz, ngoenzvaz
• Zulu: izolo

as soon as possible

• Polish: na wczoraj (pl)

See also

• ereyesterday
• hesternal
• last night
• nudiustertian
• today
• tomorrow night
• tonight

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ȝusterday, ȝurstendæi, ȝisterday, yisterday, ȝesterdai, yusterday, ȝerstendæi, yurstai

Etymology

From Old English ġiestrandæġ; equivalent to yester- +‎ day.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɛstərdæi/, /ˈjistərdæi/, /ˈjustərdæi/

Adverb

yesterday

1. On the preceding day
2. At another preceding point in time; in the past

Noun

yesterday

1. The preceding day; yesterday
2. A preceding point in time; the past

Descendants

• English: yesterday
• Middle Scots: ȝisterday, ȝesterday
  • Scots: yesterday
• Yola: yersthei, yerstei, yerstey

References

• “yester-dai, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 March 2018.