What does yesterday mean?

Definitions for yesterday
ˈyɛs tərˌdeɪ, -diyes·ter·day

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word yesterday.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. yesterdaynoun

    the day immediately before today

    "it was in yesterday's newspapers"

  2. yesterdayadverb

    the recent past

    "yesterday's solutions are not good enough"; "we shared many yesterdays"

  3. yesterdayadverb

    on the day preceding today

    "yesterday the weather was beautiful"

  4. yesterdayadverb

    in the recent past; only a short time ago

    "I was not born yesterday!"

Wiktionary

  1. yesterdaynoun

    The day before today. 'Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow'. It can also understand as a day ago.

    Yesterday was rainy, but by this morning it had begun to snow.

  2. yesterdaynoun

    The (recent) past, often disparaging.

  3. yesterdayadverb

    On the day before today

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

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Yesterdayadverb

    On the day last past.

    Martius gave us yesterday a representation of the empire of the Turks, with no small vigour of words. Francis Bacon.

  2. Yesterdaynoun

    The day last past; the day next before to-day.

    Etymology: gistandæg , Saxon.

    To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
    To the last syllable of recorded time;
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
    The way to dusty death. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    We are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow. Job viii. 9.

    You are both fluid, chang’d since yesterday;
    Next day repairs but ill last day’s decay;
    Nor are, although the river keep the name,
    Yesterday ’s waters and to-day’s the same. John Donne.

    If yesterday could be recall’d again,
    Ev’n now would I conclude my happy reign. Dryden.

    Yesterday was set apart as a day of publick thanksgiving for the late extraordinary successes. Addison.

    Mrs. Simper sends complaint in your yesterday’s Spectator. Joseph Addison, Spectator.

    Naked from the womb
    We yesterday came forth; and in the tomb
    Naked again we must to-morrow lie:
    Born to lament, to labour, and to die. Matthew Prior.

Wikipedia

  1. Yesterday

    Yesterday is an EP released by Grave Digger. It also contains a bonus DVD. The song "Yesterday" on this EP is a re-recorded version of the song from Grave Digger's debut album.

ChatGPT

  1. Yesterday

    Yesterday is the day that came directly before today. It refers to the period of time that has already occurred, typically in the past.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Yesterdaynoun

    the day last past; the day next before the present

  2. Yesterdaynoun

    fig.: A recent time; time not long past

  3. Yesterdayadverb

    on the day last past; on the day preceding to-day; as, the affair took place yesterday

  4. Etymology: [OE. isterdai, AS. geostran dg, from geostran, geostra, giestran, gistran, gystran, yesterday (akin to D. gisteren, G. gestern, OHG. gestaron, Icel. gr yesterday, to-morrow, Goth. gistradagis to-morrow, L. heri yesterday, Gr. , Skr. hyas) + dg day. Cf. Hestern. .]

The Roycroft Dictionary

  1. yesterday

    1. One evil less and one memory more. 2. A short-change artist, from whom we can never recover. 3. A period of time that has always existed, in contradistinction to a period of time called tomorrow that can never exist. 4. A mirror wherein if we look long enough we will see ourselves as others could never possibly see us. 5. The Eden of the sentimental. (Time is divided into yesterday, today and tomorrow, which are but three varieties of the same metaphysical tetter. In the beginning was the Infinite, and the Infinite begat Time, and Time begat Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.)

Suggested Resources

  1. yesterday

    Song lyrics by yesterday -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by yesterday on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'yesterday' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #490

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'yesterday' in Written Corpus Frequency: #499

  3. Adverbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'yesterday' in Adverbs Frequency: #66

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce yesterday?

How to say yesterday in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of yesterday in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of yesterday in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of yesterday in a Sentence

  1. Zoltan Kovacs:

    From what (German) Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday it is clear that everyone has to adhere to EU law, and the Hungarian authorities acted in that spirit.

  2. David Ortiz:

    Yesterday and this morning, David was able to sit up as well as take some steps, his condition is guarded and he will remain in the ICU for the coming days, but he is making good progress towards recovery.

  3. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu:

    Yesterday's attack was directly targeting Turkey and the perpetrator is the YPG and the divisive terrorist organisation PKK. All necessary measures will be taken against them.

  4. Antony Blinken:

    Yesterday, we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on. All of our people are safe, but this the action was reckless, it was irresponsible and, of course, unsafe.

  5. Chris Ahn:

    I think the hardest part of the entire day yesterday was listening to Otto Warmbier talk about Otto Warmbier, it makes me so incredibly sad about what Otto Warmbier, Otto Warmbier family and Otto Warmbier went through, and I feel so immensely blessed to have someone like Otto Warmbier who has gone through such hard, hard times to be able to reach out to me and help me in my situation.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

yesterday#1#2326#10000

Translations for yesterday

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"yesterday." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/yesterday>.

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