Etymograph

English

yesterday

Yesterday comes from Middle English yesterday, from Old English ġiestrandæġ (yester + day).

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġiestrandæġ1‘yesterday’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yesterday1
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606yesterday1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English yesterday
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġiestrandæġWiktionary, English yesterday‘yesterday’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500yesterdayWiktionary, English yesterday
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606yesterdayWiktionary, English yesterday. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to…”

Every English word from Old English ġiestrandæġ

Today it means

noun The day immediately before today; one day ago.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “yesterday”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old English ġiestrandæġ / yesterday

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